DifferencesinseedgerminationandseedlinggrowthamongpopulationsofPinusyunnanensisFranch.werequantifiedtoprovideinformationforuseintheregeneration,reforestation,andimprovementofthisspecies.Seedgerminationandseedlinggrowthtraitsatthenurserystagewereinvestigatedatthepopulationlevel.Weevaluatedrelationshipsbetweenpairsofmeasuredtraitsaswellastheassociationbetweenmeasuredtraitsandgeoclimaticvariablesincludinglongitude,latitude,elevation,temperatureandprecipitation.Seedlinggrowthshowedsignificantdifferencesalthoughalowmagnitudeofvariationwasfoundintheseedgerminationtraitsamongthepopulations.Somepopulationswithstrongandstablegrowth(e.g.,theBaoshanpopulation)maybeselectedassuperiorseedsourcesforregenerationandreforestation.Germinationpercentagewasnegativelycorrelatedwithelevation,andpositivelywithprecipitation.Inaddition,germinationindex,vigorindexandseedlingheightwerepositivelycorrelatedwithprecipitation.Seedgerminationindex,cotyledonnumberandlength,andseedlingdiameterweresignificantlyandpositivelycorrelatedwithseedweight.Strongcorrelationsbetweenpairsoftraitswillbehelpfulinearlyevaluationsfortheselectionofcertainprominenttraits.
