Comparison of Survival and Growth of Different Seed Origins of Eucalyptus camaldulensis in Arid Region of Mehran, Iran

Aims Eucalyptus camaldulensis is one of the most productive and best adapted species in the afforestation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the growth and survival rate of five Eucalyptus camaldulensis provenances (two from Mazandaran, one from Guilan, one from Ahwaz, and one from Ilam) at the Research Center of Tropical Plants in Mehran, Iran, during 2009-2013. Materials Methods The experiment was carried out in Mehran Research Station in Ilam Province with a randomized complete block design and three replications, at 25 plants in each block at a distance of 4×4m. At the end of the growing season, survival, height, circumference at breast height (C.B.H), canopy diameter growth (C.D.G) 147 trees were evaluated. Findings The result of ANOVA indicated a significant difference between the provenance origins for all traits (p 0.01). The survival rate of the studied provenances ranged from 41.7% to 98.3%, whereas Shafarood and Mehran provenances had the highest rate of survival. The mean of annual height growth of five studied provenances varied from 64.57 to 205.29cm. In addition, the characteristics of C.B.H and C.D.G in the selected provenances ranged between 3.60 to 9.44 and 25.51 to 75.26cm, respectively. Among the above mentioned characteristics, Shafarood followed by Ahwaz had the greatest values. Conclusion The seedlings from the Shafarood origin indicated the highest average in all the studied characteristics. The results provide useful information for choice of E. camaldulensis provenances to apply future afforestation in the Mehran region.