Influence of eco-geographic factors on growth of wild barley (Hordeum spontaneum) in Israel.

The phenological period and agronomic characters of 16 wild barley ecotypes from 6 populations in Israel were analyzed by Spearman's Rho Correlation and Stepwise multiple regressions to study influence of birthplace eco-geographic factors on phenological period and agronomic characters of wild barley ecotypes.The results showed that there were significant correlations between grain weight and 8 factors of 14 eco-geographic factors,growth period,flag leaf area,plant height,spike length,awn length and spikelets/spike were significantly correlated to latitude,mean annual rainfall,mean annual humidity and mean annual evaporation,respectively,and the water,temperature and geographic factors had the important influence on 11 phenological periods and agronomic characters of wild barley,which indicates that difference in phenological periods and agronomic characters among wild barley ecotypes is formed under a long term natural selection stress.