Abstract:
Qualities of planting stocks are critical factors for the success of forest plantations.
Despite the huge number of annual seedling production in tree nurseries, awareness on
quality of seedlings is very limited. This study evaluates the seedling quality across
nursery ownership types in terms of morphological attributes and examines the effect of
seedling quality on early growth and survival. Three nursery ownerships (private, GO and
NGO) were selected from three districts of central Gondar zone with the assumption of
different nursery management practices. Four tree/shrub species were selected
purposively (common in all the nursery ownership types) and seedlings for quality
assessment and early establishment evaluation were sampled randomly. The study
indicated that seedling qualities differ across the selected nursery ownership types and
have significant effect on survival and early growth. Significant differences (α<0.05) were
observed in the mean shoot length, root collar diameter, shoot and root dry masses among
different tree nursery owners. However, there was no significant difference in survival at
nine month after planting among seedlings from the different nursery ownership types for
the tested species except G.robusta. Generally, significant positive correlations (α= 0.05)
were detected between initial seedling attributes and field performance. These differences
could be rooted from different management in different nursery ownership types. There
were relatively higher seedling proportions having measured parameters out of threshold
standards for height, root collar diameter, shoot to root ratio and height-diameter ratio in
private owner. Generally, G. robusta performed better in NGO, R.prinoides and
C.africana in private nurseries and C.lustanica in GO nurseries. However, species, site,
and management specific studies must be studied to clearly quantify seedling quality and
the associated effect on early growth and survival
