Varijabilnost klijavosti sjemena i morfoloških osobina sadnica divlje trešnje porijeklom iz Republike Srpske (BiH) / Variability of seed germination and morphological properties of seedlings of wild cherry populations from Republic of Srpska (BiH)

Wild cherry (Prunus avium L.) is one of the most valuable species on the territory of the Republic of Srpska and all over Europe. This paper represents the results of: a) the vitality of the wild cherry seed (Prunus avium L.) b) the seed germination in nursery conditions c) the height growth of one year old seedlings and d) root collar diameter. Three out of six populations (Ribnik, Prnjavor and Vlasenica) had a seed vitality of 96%. In the populations of Višegrad and Milići the determined vitality of the seed was 94%, which was also the lowest value of the vitality of the seed that was noted. In the first year following the founding of the experiment, the largest number of seed germination was noted in the Kalinovik population (9.71%) and the smallest in the Ribnik population (0.92%). By researching the morphometric characteristics of one-year old wild cherry seedlings, the results show us a height significant statistical difference for the properties of the height of the seedlings and for the property of the root collar diameter between the investigated populations. During studying populations of wild cherry, the results of the one-way ANOVA showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.001) among the studied wild cherry populations in terms of both height of the seedlings and the root collar diameter of the seedlings. The lowest mean value for one year old wild cherry seedlings at the population level was noted in the Milici population (x̄ = 202.4 mm), and the highest was in Prnjavor population (x̄ = 278.2 mm). The lowest mean value of root collar diameter at the population level was noted in the Vlasenica population (x̄ = 3.54 mm), and the highest in the Kalinovik population (x̄ = 5.56 mm). Having in mind that the results of the research indicated a small percentage of seed germination of wild cherry, in the following period the influence of other pre-treatment treatments should be tried in order to increase seed germination. Also, given the fact that forest species have a growth increment that goes deeper while aging, the achieved dimensions in the first years after sowing do not necessarily indicate the potential of certain trees or populations at the rate of growth, as often the movement of distress values in subsequent stages of development. This should especially be taken after the planting of the seedlings on the field, because in the first years after planting out, the results of altitude and diameter growth increases in addition to the properties of the populations / provenances themselves have the ability to root them and overcome the stress of the transplantation