A COMPARATIVE SURVEY ON PHYSICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CAUCASIAN ALDER (ALNUS SUBCORDATA) SEED IN DIFFERENT ALTITUDES OF HYRCANIAN FORESTS

In order to conduct a survey on trends of morphological (length width), physical (humidity weight of 1000 seeds) and physiological (germination capacity) changes, Alder seed/fruit were collected from six different altitudes (50, 400, 800, 1200, 1400 1600 meter above sea level) of Golband management Plan limits supervised by Nowshahr forestry Headquarters, Mazandaran province. The results show that there is a significant difference (P 0.01) between all characteristics coming under our scrutiny in altitudinal levels on which the study is carried out so that the maximum and minimum length and width of the seed and fruits have alternatively been observed at altitudes of 1400 and 50 meter above sea level Of the investigated attributes, weight of 1000 seeds has the widest variety. The humidity of all provided samples of various heights is less than 5% which is regarded as a proof of orthodox-natured seed of this type. The study of Alder seed germination illustrated that the maximum and minimum amounts of the weight have been observed at altitudes of 1400 and 50 meter above sea level. The general findings of this study demonstrated that seed of Caucasian Alder (Alnus subcordata) did not go dormant and sprouted at once, regardless of altitudinal variation, after sowing. Additionally, the distinct effect of altitude gradient changes and consequently the changes of climatic conditions to the characteristics of Alder seed and fruit coincide with the findings of majority of researchers.