Morphometrics of Pinus patula crown and its effect on cone characteristics and seed yield in Kenya

Tree crowns for conifers have been known globally to be the epicentre of seed production. <i>Pinus</i> species and other conifers have cones as an important unit for seed production. Cone production is however not uniform and often varies among compartments and sectors within the crown. This study sought to evaluate within-crown cone production patterns, cone characteristics and seed yield in a <i>Pinus patula</i> clonal seed orchard in Londiani, Kenya. Crown height was divided into 3 equal portions and a further subdivision done for each of the portions into 2 sections. From each crown section 10 mature cones were collected to total 60 cones per tree as a sample size. The cones were put in a preheated oven at temperature 65°C for 24 hours to open for seed extraction. This study observed cones collected from the top portion of the crown yielded the highest amount of seed (33.3±4.91 seeds) (p<0.05) while the bottom part had the lowest (14.4±2.76) (p<0.05). The study recommends collection of <i>Pinus patula</i> seeds from the upper part of the crown in unmanaged stands and further recommends that management through pollarding be done regularly to minimize within-crown differences. Keyword: Research ID: 3469693