Planting Methods and Seedling Establishment of Artemisia sieberi Besser: Seeds Collected from Isfahan Kolah Ghazi Sagebrush Vegetations

Wormwood sagebrush (Artemisia sieberi Besser) is one of the most widely distributed shrub species in Iran and Turkistan steppes, its establishment on dry lands has generally been proven difficult because of low seedling vigor, inability to compete with herbaceous species, poor seed quality, and altered edaphic conditions. In order to evaluation of planting methods and seedling establishment, seed of A. sieberi was collected at Isfahan Kolah Ghazi National Park situated at 51°45' Eas longitude and 35°15' Nort latitude. To overcome dormancy effects, seeds were pre-chilled for 9 days at 0 to 5°C. To determine the establishment of the seedlings, the seeds were sown in Petri dishes. The germination percentage was recorded after three weeks. After 5 months, 40 seedlings were transferred into plastic pots. Two months later, 16 seedlings were transferred to the field. The result of plate experiment showed that the percentage of germination was 63%, survival of the sprouted seedlings was 23%, the percentage of the establishment of the seedlings in plastic pots was 70%, and the percentage of the establishment of the seedlings in the field was 75%. On the whole, 7.61% of the cultivated seeds produced seedlings that were successfully established in the field (0.63 ´ 0.23´0.70 ´ 0.75´100 =7.61).