Ensuring sustainable forestry in a changing environment requires implementing effective methods for selecting seedling material with enhanced tolerance to adverse abiotic and biotic factors. Previous strategies often relied on time−consuming field tests or costly molecular analyses. In the present study, we present an analysis of cotyledon number as a morphological trait allowing rapid prediction of potential stress resilience in Scots pine Pinus sylvestris seedlings. Assessment of this parameter may serve as an easily observable phenotypic marker enabling early identification of individuals with more favourable morphological development and enhanced adaptive potential. The quality of the seeds used was assessed according to the first category of quality indicators. The average number of cotyledons in seedlings, both in the laboratory and in the nursery, was slightly above 6 (pp<0.0001). The percentage of seedlings grown in the nursery with values within the optimal ratio (R:S=1.0−1.5) was 94%. The study was based on the analysis of cotyledon number distribution and its relationship with selected biometric traits of seedlings obtained under laboratory and nursery, conditions. We demonstrated that increased cotyledon number correlates with increased root, shoot, and needle length, as well as higher survival potential. The observed correlations indicate that cotyledon number may serve as a rapid and costeffective selection criterion in forest practice and breeding programs, offering a useful alternative to more advanced technologies. Simultaneously, further validation of results in stress experiments and across a broad spectrum of genotypes and locations is necessary to effectively implement this method as a tool in assessment of seed and nursery stock quality.
Dyshko et al. (Wed,) studied this question.