Provenance variation of the two low elevation Mediterranean pines (Pinus brutia Ten. and Pinus halepensis Mill.)

A total of 12 populations from 4 provenances at different elevations in Crete, were raised in the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute's nursery of Chania and assessed for 7 morphological and anatomical needle traits (length, width and thickness, number of stomata on both faces, resin canals number of teeth per cm), and total height growth at 3 years of age. The results show that: 1. Significant differences exist among populations for all considered traits, even if most of the variation is due to differences between trees. 2. The dendrogram showed two main clusters: the west Cretan in Kostagerakou and Samaria, and the east central one in Vorizia and Lassithi. 3. Except Samaria which may be a specific ecotype, the needle width, needle thickness, resin canals number and number of stomata rows show a clinal trend with respect to longitude. Thus, it is possible to discriminate the populations of Pinus brutia considering less characters. 4. The altitudes of origin of parent trees explained 20 percent of variation in height growth and less, even null for most of the other needle's characteristics. 5. The best growth for all the provenances is at 650m elevation. 6. The narrow sense heritability (0.31) showed that a big portion of genetic variance is additive, and with a large variation within seed sources, it offers good chances for rapid genetic improvement on growth character. Investigating 27 provenances of Pinus halepensis from the Mediterranean region, one of Pinus brutia and an other one of Pinus eldarica (Iran), which were established in spring 1971 in an experimental site, near Lamia (Greece), the results obtained show that: 1. There is a genetic differentiation of Pinus halepensis on the provenance level. 2. The selection can be exercised at an early stage and can be safe and efficient. The two extreme provenances, the eastern (Greek) and western (Moroccan) one are the best. The local provenance is not necessarily the most performant, since results from provenance test are not conclusive. 5. The recommended spacing can be 3x3m, followed by thinning at about age 20.