Effect of Altitude on some Morphological and Anatomical Properties of Pinus halepensis Mill. in East Libya

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of environmental conditions on morphological and anatomical properties of wood and needle of Pinus halepensis Mill. trees in AL-Jabal AL- Akhdar region, Libya.  Three trees were randomly selected from different altitude. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the three altitudes. pine trees in altitude 63m characterized by shortest needle 6.08 cm and small size of cone 5.74 cm, and 0.56 cm seed. The needle cross section was characterized by small dimensions, 1.04 diameter and 0.576 wide at altitude 63m, also, the results of the area of the resin ducts and the number and diameter that there is a significant difference between the three altitudes, while the highest mean values for all the properties of needle anatomy were found in the altitude 408 m. On the other hand, some wood anatomy characteristics. regularly decreased with increasing altitude such as the cell wall thickness, Ray area, resin ducts area and diameter of resin ducts.