Int. J. Biosci. 2017 International Journal of Biosciences | IJB | ISSN: 2220-6655 (Print) 2222-5234 (Online) http://www.innspub.net Vol. 10, No. 1, p. 345-355, 2017 RESEARCH PAPER OPEN ACCESS Seed and cone biometry of Juniperus excelsa from three Provenances in Balochistan Muhammad Hussain Khajjak*, Muhammad Saeed, Muhammad Naeem Shahwani, Shahjahan Shabbir Ahmed, Ghazala Shaheen1, Asma Yousafzai, Nazeer Ahmed Durrani Faculty of Life Sciences, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering & Management Sciences (BUITEMS), Quetta, Pakistan 1University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan Key words: Balochistan, Biometry, Cone, Cupressaceae, Juniperus excelsa, Seed http://dx.doi.org/10.12692/ijb/10.1.345-355 Article published on January 31, 2017 Abstract In present study cone and seed traits of the J. excelsa in three distinct regions namely Ziarat, Zarghoon Ghar and Harboi districts of Balochistan were analyzed. The aim of this study was to compare the biometrical characters of cone and seed of J. excelsa growing in three provenances in Balochistan with the intention to verify whether the spatial segregation had brought any variation in the provenances with respect to biometric characteristics. Inter- population differences were greater than intra-population differences with regard to cone size and number of seeds per cone. Maximum number of seeds per cone was found to be 8 and seed size was reduced with the increase in number of seeds in a cone. The percentage of the maximum number of filled seeds was higher in Ziarat. The mean values of cone diameter, cone mass and seed mass were also comparatively higher in Ziarat; while the average values of empty and dead seeds per cone were higher in Zarghoon Ghar. Elevation was found to effect on the number of filled seeds. At least 75 percent seeds were found to be empty and dead filled shrunken seeds. Infested and bored seed coat seeds were also found. The populations of Ziarat and Zarghoon Ghar varied with respect to cone and seed morphological characteristics, though they were located adjacent to each other. However, the spatially segregated populations of Ziarat and Harboi were closely related with respect to cone and seed morphological characteristics. * Corresponding Author: Muhammad Hussain Khajjak [email protected] 345 Khajjak et al. Int. J. Biosci. 2017 Introduction The regions Ziarat and Zarghoon Ghar are located Based on the morphology Juniperus excelsa is divided adjacent to each other although they are detached into two subspecies namely J. excelsa subsp. excelsa, from each other, while Ziarat and Harboi are about which covers mountainous and sub-mountainous areas 210km apart. The approximate location of J. excelsa of the Balkan Peninsula in the west, through Anatolia, forests in Balochistan is shown in (Fig. 1). Syria and Lebanon to Crimea in the north and Iran in the east; while the second subspecies J. excelsa sub sp. The three populations examined in this study are polycarpos (K. Koch) Takht. Is found further to Trans- spatially disconnected; therefore the variability or Caucasia and Central-Asia. similarity among the populations with regard to cone and seed biometry has been investigated. Such studies The present research work concerns with Juniperus have been carried out to correlate geographical distances excelsa subsp. polycarpos which is distributed in and morphological variability (Mazur et al., 2004; Pakistan in some of the inner valleys of the Himalaya Farjon, 2005). and Balochistan at the elevation of 1200-3000 m. Its natural stands in Balochistan, Pakistan are distributed The cone morphology and genetic diversity of J. excelsa between 20°9'N and 30°37'N and between 67°1'E, as has been fairly studied elsewhere in the world (Farjon, 1992; Schulz et al., 2003; Douaihy et al., 2011) while the well as in some isolated dry valleys at an elevation of comprehensive work related to the species native to 1200 m to 3000m (Rafi,1965; Nasir et al., 1960). Balochistan, Pakistan is rare. The province of Balochistan in Pakistan encompasses Mostly the published work carried out on J. excelsa of approximately 141,000 hectares of J. excelsa forests. Balochistan is related to the Ziarat tract of Juniper J. excelsa trees typically grow as pure stands; its (Sarangzai et al., 2012; Ahmed et al. 1990) and so far forests are characteristically open and multistoried very limited research work has been performed to (Sheikh, 1985). J. excelsa is a slow-growing, investigate the comparative morphological monoecious or dioecious and wind-pollinated tree characteristics of cone and seed morphological variation that can reach 20-25 m in height (Takhtajan, 1986; among the three distinct provenances of Juniper in Farjon, 2005; Adams, 2008; Farjon, 2010). Balochistan. The field reports by the foresters suggest that cones of J. Morphological data are important in the understanding excelsa appear in spring and ripen in September to of life cycles, geographic and ecologic distribution, October in second year; the cones are bluish black when evolution, conservation status, as well as species ripe. Good seed-years occur at less frequent intervals. delimitation (Kaplan, 2001). The role of seed and cone morph metric characteristics is very significant in the Seedlings appear naturally to a varying extent, but the reproductive biology of a species. The reproductive great majority perishes probably from drought. A heavy structures assist a species in adaptability against snow fall has been found to assist reproduction by different hazards faced in the nature, which include increasing the moisture in the soil. granivory and damage caused by the forest fires and many others. The aim of this study is to compare the The seed and cone traits of Juniperusexcelsa trees biometrical characters of seed and cone of J. excelsa growing in three separate provenances in Balochistan growing in three provenances in Balochistan. The study have been analyzed. The provenances are namely is carried out to demonstrate whether the spatial Ziarat (district Ziarat), Zarghoon (district Quetta) and segregation have brought any variation in the Harboi (district Kalat). provenances with respect to biometric characteristics. 346 Khajjak et al. Int. J. Biosci. 2017 Fig. 1. The map showing the approximate location of Juniperus excelsa forest in Balochistan. (Champion and Khatak, 1965). Materials and methods The provenance, population acronyms, elevation, Study area aspect, and geographic coordinates of the populations The study areas Ziarat, Zarghoon and Harboi are located studied are given in Table 1. Various characters at (30°22'́́ 56'' N 67° 43́'27 E''), (30°15'54'' N 67°18'55 E'') studied are given in Table 2. Cone dimensions and (29°02'́́ 55'' N 66°43'́ 55 E'') respectively. The study measurements were carried out with a numerical area lies at elevation ranging from 2000 to 2700 m. caliper (0.01mm) and the cone and seed mass was weighed to the accuracy of (±0.01g). Seed cutting Plant material and characters studied tests were performed as per ISTA rules (1996). Ten populations of J. excelsa were sampled in the month of October from the three separate tracts of Statistical analysis Juniper in Balochistan, Pakistan. Samples of female The data obtained was statistically analyzed with IBM cones were collected at a height of about 1.0-5.0 m SPSS Statistics 20. The statistics such as arithmetic above ground level in each population, as described means, standard deviations and variation coefficient by (Mazur et al., 2010). were calculated for the particular characters for The samples were collected from southern, south- individuals and populations. The interactions western and south-eastern expositions (Klimko et al., between characters were checked with Pearson’s 2007). For each sampled tree, 15-20 ripe seed cones correlation coefficient. While comparison of means were collected from the same part of the crown. The was done by ANOVA, pair wise multiple comparison measurement was performed on dry material. procedures were performed with the Tukey’s test. 347 Khajjak et al. Int. J. Biosci. 2017 Table 1. Provenance, population acronyms, elevation, aspect, and geographic coordinates of the Juniperus excelsa populations. Provenance Population Elevation (m) Aspect Coordinates 30°25´N ZRT 1 2700 NE 67°30´E, 30°24´N ZRT 2 2600 NE 67°30´E Ziarat 30°23´N ZRT 3 2500 SE 67°31´E 30°22´N ZRT 4 2400 SW 67°31´E 30°16´N ZRG 1 2600 NE 67°19´E 67°31´E 30°15´N Zarghoon Ghar ZRG 2 2500 SE 67°19´E 30°15´N ZRG 3 2400 SW 67°19´E 29°12´N HRI 1 2200 NE 66°50´E 29°12´ N Harboi HRI 2 2100 NE 66°51´E 29°12´ N HRI 3 2000 SW 66°53´E Results The codes of characters studied, average values with Ten parameters of cone and seed biometric standard deviation (SD), minimum and maximum characteristics with descriptive statistics of Juniperus values of studied characters, confidence and variation excelsa from 10 populations of three different coefficients (CV) of analyzed characters of cones and provenances in Balochistan were recorded. seeds of J. excelsa are presented in (Table 2). Table 2. The codes of characters studied, average values with standard deviation (SD), minimum and maximum values of studied characters, confidence and variation coefficients (CV) of analyzed characters of cones and seeds of Juniperus excelsa. Accuracy Variation Code Character and Mean± SD Minimum Maximum Confidence Coefficient measure (%) Diameter of CD 0.01 mm 9.21±1.19 5.50 11.00 0.01 12.92 Cone CM Cone mass 0.01 g 0.46±0.17 0.15 1.00 0.01 36.95 Number of SN specimen 4.05±1.14 01 08 0.04 28.14 seeds/cone SM Seed mass 0.01 g 0.17±0.09 0.05 0.35 0.02 52.94 PM Pulp mass (g) 0.01 g 0.30±0.11 0.10 0.65 0.04 36.66 Length of Seed SL 0.01 mm 4.70±0.36 2.50 5.30 0.01 7.65 (mm) Width of seed SW 0.01 mm 2.75±0.26 2.00 3.50 0.01 9.45 (mm) FS Filled seeds Specimen 0.84±0.59 0.50 0.94 0.01 70.23 ES Empty seeds Specimen 1.08±0.71 0.65 1.84 0.01 65.74 DS Dead seeds Specimen 2.12±0.93 1.74 2.54 0.02 43.86 The average values of cone diameter (CD) was found values recorded for the (CD) were 11.00 mm among 9.21±1.19mm and variation coefficient for (CD) was all the studied populations (Table 2).