ObjectiveThe seedling growth characteristics about five sources of Kuandian, Benxi, Helong, Wangqing and Muling of Taxus cuspidata were studied through the control experiment, aiming at exploring the adaptability of Taxus cuspidata in potential distribution areas, which will provide theoretical basis for ex situ conservation.

MethodExperiments were conducted at four pilot sites in Shandong Province of eastern China, Beijing City, Liaoning Province and Jilin Province of northeastern China. Three-year-old seedlings were planted. Multi-site joint analysis and multiple comparisons of seven traits (including seedling height, basal diameter, and crown width, etc.) were conducted. In addition, the interactions of genotype (G), environment (E), and genotype with environment (G×E) were used to analyze the height of Taxus cuspidata in the AMMI model to compare the growth stability of Taxus cuspidata from different sources in different habitats.

Result(1) The diameter of the seedlings, the number of lateral branch, the maximum length of lateral branch and the length of shoot in current year were the best in Shandong Province, which were 3.77 times, 1.88 times, 10.35 times and 1.30 times higher than the Beijing test site. The coefficient of variation of phenotypic traits averaged over 30% in each test site, indicating that seedlings had higher genetic differentiation. (2) From the aspect of variance, the variance components of height, basal diameter, crown width and length of shoot in current year were 62.89%, 64.37%, 32.65%, and 52.34%, which were much larger than the other sources. It is indicated that the location effect had the greatest impact on the growth of Taxus cuspidata. The average preservation rate was 97.49% (Jilin)>92.16% (Liaoning)>89.92% (Shandong)>85.64% (Beijing).

Conclusion(1) The growth of basal diameter was not significantly different in the interaction between sources and experimental sites. The growth of other growth traits showed significant differences (P < 0.01) between sources and locations, as well as the interactions between sources and locations. Good performance of growth in Shandong Province, Beijing City, and Liaoning Province is the source of Wangqing, and the better growing in Jilin pilot is Benxi source. (2) The Helong source which grow well and stably is suitable for large-scale ex situ conservation in 4 pilot sites. The Kuandian sources have the worst performance in four pilot sites and the preservation rate is lower than other sources, which is not suitable for ex-situ conservation. The distribution area in Shandong Province is better than Beijing, indicating that the Taxus cuspidata can be moved to the south, and prerequisites must be done in the seed source screening test.