Yields and constituents of essential oil from cones of Pinaceae spp. natively grown in Turkey.

In this study, the yields and composition of essential oils obtained from the cones of Pinaceae family species natively grown in Turkey were investigated. Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation. Oil yields were 0.13-0.48 mL/100 g in pine cones, 0.42-0.59 mL/100g in fir, 0.36 mL/100g in spruce and 0.37 mL/100g in cedar. While alpha-pinene (47.1-14.8%) was the main constituent of P. slyvestris, P. nigra and P. halepensis, limonene (62.8%) in P. pinea and beta-pinene (39.6%) in P. brutia were found in higher amounts. Like in P. pinea, limonene was the main compound in Cedrus libani (22.7%). In fir species the major compounds were alpha-pinene (70.6-53.0%) and beta-pinene (10.9-8.2%). Contrary to other species beta-pinene (32.7%) was found as a major compound in Picea orientalis.

Tree ring imprints of long-term changes in climate in western Himalaya, India.

Tree-ring analyses from semi-arid to arid regions in western Himalaya show immense potential for developing millennia long climate records. Millennium and longer ring-width chronologies of Himalayan pencil juniper (Juniperus polycarpos), Himalayan pencil cedar (Cedrus deodara) and Chilgoza pine (Pinus gerardiana) have been developed from different sites in western Himalaya. Studies conducted so far on various conifer species indicate strong precipitation signatures in ring-width measurement series. The paucity of weather records from stations close to tree-ring sampling sites poses diffi culty in calibrating tree-ring data against climate data especially precipitation for its strong spatial variability in mountain regions. However, for the existence of strong coherence in temperature, even in data from distant stations, more robust temperature reconstructions representing regional and hemispheric signatures have been developed. Tree-ring records from the region indicate multi-century warm and cool anomalies consistent with the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age anomalies. Signifi cant relationships noted between mean premonsoon temperature over the western Himalaya and ENSO features endorse utility of climate records from western Himalayan region in understanding long-term climate variability and attribution of anthropogenic impact.

Growth and plant diversity in a man-made thinned Cedrus atlantica stand.

In order to study the growth characteristics of Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica Manetti) and to assess the plant diversity an investigation was carried out in a 30 year old man-made stand located in the Caspian mountain forests (north of Iran). In this stand a silvicultural treatment as thinning was operated in five replications of 200 m2 for removing 25% of basal area. Likewise five replications of 200 m2 were considered as control (unthinned). The results of 5 year investigation revealed that diameter growth of C. atlantica was two times greater in thinned stand than in unthinned stand (p<0.05). Height growth and basal area (b.a.) in thinned stand were not greater than those in controlled stand. Vitality quality in both treatments was fairly high. Fruit production was significantly more ample in thinned stand than in unthinned stand. Compared to unthinned stand, in thinned stand index of Simpson Diversity was greater but indices of Menhinic Richness and Peet Evenness were smaller. This study reveals that generally diversity has been increased in the managed stand. Besides that C. atlantica has been adapted to this region and therefore thinning practice can be a good measure for increasing timber production.