Interactions of Climatic Characteristics x Strobili Productions in Taurus Cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) Populations

Abstract Reproductive characteristic (e.g., pollen, strobili, cone, seed, fruit) is one of the main tools in sustainable forestry. However, many biotic (e.g., growth characteristics, species, population) and abiotic (e.g., edaphic, climatic, geographic) factors can be effective on these characteristics. In this study, impact of climatic characteristics including minimum, maximum and average temperatures, annual precipitation, and relative humidity on female and male strobili productions were examined in three natural populations of Taurus cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.) during three consecutive years (2020–2022). For this purpose, fifty trees were sampled and marked from each population to observe strobilus productions. ANOVA showed that climatic characteristics were similar among years and among populations, while female and male strobili productions showed significant (p < 0.01) differences among years and among populations, and also among years within population. Interactions of population x year were not significant (p > 0.05) in climatic characteristics opposite to strobili productions. Two populations had the highest strobili productions (155.4 and 82.3 for female, and 889.4 and 186.1 for male) in 2022. The studied climatic characteristics had no significant (p > 0.05) impact on strobili productions.