Table 1. Geographical location and environmental factors for three provenances of yellowhorn.
PRO Longitude, latitude Altitude (m) Mean annual
temperature (°C) 		January mean
temperature (°C) 		July mean
temperature (°C) 		Annual total accumulative temperature above 10 °C Annual rainfall (mm) Annual sunshine hours (h) Frost-free period (d)
WQ 42°57´N, 119°00´E 623 5.8 –12.5 22.5 2640 320 2923 130
AQ 44°13´N, 119°18´E 550 5.5 –11.5 22.9 2800 340 2900 120
SX 34°63´N, 111°62´E 1026 13.9 –0.7 27.0 4276 650 2354 219
Table 2. Effects of provenance (PRO), slow-release fertilizer (SRF) and their interaction (PRO × SRF) on N, P, K and soluble sugar content of yellowhorn seedling prior to transplanting.
Treatment N content P content K content Soluble sugar content
Stem Root Stem Root Stem Root Stem Root
PRO NS NS * * NS NS NS NS
SRF ** ** *** * NS NS *** NS
PRO × SRF * NS NS NS NS NS ** ***
NS, *, **, *** Non-significant; and significant at p = 0.05, 0.01, 0.001, respectively.
Table 3. Means ± SE of stem N content, stem and root soluble sugar content of yellowhorn seedling prior to transplanting.
Provenance SRF rate
(mg N seedling-1) 		Stem N content
(mg) 		Stem soluble sugar content (mg) Root soluble sugar content (mg)
AQ 40 6.5 ± 1.2 ab 22.2 ± 1.6 bcd 36.4 ± 1.1 cde
80 8.6 ± 2.7 abc 24.3 ± 1.4 cde 43.6 ± 2.7 de
120 18.3 ± 6.6 cde 12.0 ± 4.5 ab 38.6 ± 7.6 cde
160 16.8 ± 4.4 bcde 27.1 ± 1.4 de 29.2 ± 1.0 bcd
200 24.9 ± 2.1 e 22.5 ± 3.6 bcd 30.8 ± 3.0 bcd
SX 40 8.2 ± 1.3 abc 6.2 ± 1.3 a 25.1 ± 2.3 abc
80 7.3 ± 1.2 ab 26.6 ± 8.4 de 46.2 ± 6.8 e
120 12.7 ± 2.9 abcd 19.0 ± 1.4 bcd 40.3 ± 4.4 de
160 9.8 ± 1.4 abc 14.6 ± 2.4 abc 20.3 ± 8.0 ab
200 20.3 ± 6.7 ade 23.9 ± 2.7 cde 32.5 ± 7.0b cde
WQ 40 11.4 ± 1.2 abcd 14.8 ± 3.0 abc 41.8 ± 2.6 de
80 13.7 ± 2.2 abcd 33.5 ± 1.6 e 15.1 ± 0.5 a
120 5.4 ± 0.6 a 18.8 ± 4.0 bcd 30.1 ± 4.1 bcd
160 12.2 ± 2.0 abcd 28.1 ± 0.9 de 31.7 ± 4.3 bcde
200 9.5 ± 1.4 abc 18.0 ± 1.3 bcd 42.8 ± 2.6 de
Values marked with different letters are statistically different according to Duncan’s test (α = 0.05).
1

Fig. 1. Main effects of provenance and slow-release fertilizer on nursery stage root N content, stem P content and root P content (mean±SE) of yellowhorn seedlings prior to transplanting. Bars marked with different letters differ significantly for each treatment according to Duncan’s test α = 0.05.

Table 4. Effects of provenance (PRO), slow-release fertilizer (SRF) and their interaction (PRO × SRF) on yellowhorn seedling stem and root biomass prior to transplanting and at the end of the second growing season (2016, T3).
Treatment Stem biomass Root biomass T3 stem biomass T3 root biomass
PRO NS ** NS NS
SRF ** NS ** ***
PRO × SRF ** * NS NS
NS, *, **, *** Non-significant; and significant at p = 0.05, 0.01, 0.001, respectively.
Table 5. Means ± SE of stem and root biomass of yellowhorn seedling prior to transplanting.
Provenance SRF rate
(mg N seedling-1) 		Stem biomass
(g) 		Root biomass
(g)
AQ 40 0.37 ± 0.04 a 2.06 ± 0.22 a
80 0.54 ± 0.04 bcd 3.02 ± 0.27 cd
120 0.56 ± 0.07 cde 2.86 ± 0.34 bcd
160 0.71 ± 0.07 e 2.06 ± 0.21 a
200 0.58 ± 0.07 cde 2.11 ± 0.25 ab
SX 40 0.59 ± 0.04 cde 3.23 ± 0.27 d
80 0.39 ± 0.03 ab 2.42 ± 0.20 abc
120 0.48 ± 0.04 abcd 2.98 ± 0.26 cd
160 0.60 ± 0.04 cde 2.78 ± 0.22 abcd
200 0.64 ± 0.06 de 2.80 ± 0.22 abcd
WQ 40 0.44 ± 0.04 abc 2.13 ± 0.17 ab
80 0.49 ± 0.04 abcd 2.33 ± 0.23 abc
120 0.57 ± 0.06 cde 2.27 ± 0.20 abc
160 0.50 ± 0.04 abcd 2.39 ± 0.21 abc
200 0.48 ± 0.05 abcd 2.34 ± 0.29 abc
Values marked with different letters are statistically different according to Duncan’s test (α = 0.05).
Table 6. Effects of provenance (PRO), slow-release fertilizer (SRF) and their interaction (PRO × SRF) on yellowhorn seedling height and diameter at T1, T2, and T3, and survival at T2 and T3.
Treatment T1 height T1 diameter T2 height T2 diameter T3 height T3 diameter T2 survival T3 survival
PRO *** *** ** *** * NS NS NS
SRF *** *** * *** NS ** NS NS
PRO × SRF *** *** ** *** NS NS * **
NS, *, **, *** Non-significant; and significant at p = 0.05, 0.01, 0.001, respectively.
T1 means immediately after transplanting. T2 and T3 means at the end of the first (2015) and the second (2016) growing season after transplanting, respectively.
Table 7. Means ± SE of height and diameter at T1 and T2, and survival at T2 and T3 of yellowhorn seedling.
PRO SRF rate
(mg N seedling-1) 		T1 height
(cm) 		T1 diameter
(mm) 		T2 height
(cm) 		T2 diameter
(mm) 		T2 survival
(%) 		T3 survival
(%)
AQ 40 21.9 ± 0.3 bc 2.9 ± 0.1 a 32.4 ± 2.7 a 4.0 ± 0.1 abc 86.5 ± 9.1 a 84.6 ± 8.3 abc
80 20.3 ± 0.9 b 2.9 ± 0.0 a 32.9 ± 2.3 a 3.9 ± 0.1 ab 100.0 ± 0.0 b 87.9 ± 5.4 abc
120 27.4 ± 0.6 e 3.4 ± 0.1 cd 41.2 ± 1.5 ab 4.5 ± 0.0 efg 100.0 ± 0.0 b 97.7 ± 2.3 c
160 25.1 ± 0.4 d 3.2 ± 0.1 b 34.5 ± 2.3 a 4.3 ± 0.1 cdef 100.0 ± 0.0 b 88.1 ± 4.2 abc
200 18.2 ± 0.2 a 2.9 ± 0.0 a 29.4 ± 4.6 a 4.1 ± 0.2 bcd 97.7 ± 2.3 ab 70.5 ± 9.4 a
SX 40 28.7 ± 0.5 e 3.2 ± 0.1 b 40.7 ± 2.4 ab 4.4 ± 0.1 def 98.3 ± 1.7 ab 76.7 ± 6.9 a
80 21.4 ± 0.9 b 3.2 ± 0.0 bc 31.6 ± 2.1 a 4.2 ± 0.1 bcde 100.0 ± 0.0 b 89.6 ± 4.3 abc
120 23.7 ± 0.4 cd 3.5 ± 0.0 ef 33.5 ± 0.6 a 4.8 ± 0.1 g 90.0 ± 6.4 ab 75.0 ± 6.3 a
160 28.1 ± 0.6 e 3.4 ± 0.1 cde 35.0 ± 2.3 a 4.6 ± 0.1 fg 98.2 ± 1.8 ab 94.8 ± 3.4 bc
200 33.6 ± 0.9 f 3.6 ± 0.1 f 49.0 ± 6.1 bc 4.8 ± 0.1 g 100.0 ± 0.0 b 96.5 ± 2.0 bc
WQ 40 21.3 ± 0.7 b 2.8 ± 0.0 a 31.0 ± 1.9 a 3.9 ± 0.1 ab 100.0 ± 0.0 b 82.7 ± 7.3 ab
80 24.9 ± 0.6 d 3.1 ± 0.0 b 37.8 ± 2.9 ab 4.1 ± 0.1 bcd 98.5 ± 1.5 ab 81.5 ± 5.0 ab
120 20.2 ± 0.7 b 2.9 ± 0.1 a 41.8 ± 2.4 ab 3.7 ± 0.2 a 100.0 ± 0.0 b 81.7 ± 4.0 ab
160 27.8 ± 0.7 e 3.6 ± 0.1 f 48.1 ± 8.7 bc 4.5 ± 0.0 efg 100.0 ± 0.0 b 91.7 ± 3.2 abc
200 26.9 ± 0.3 e 3.4 ± 0.0 de 55.7 ± 5.5 c 4.8 ± 0.0 g 95.0 ± 2.9 ab 80.2 ± 5.9 ab
Values marked with different letters are statistically different according to Duncan’s test (α = 0.05).
T1 means immediately after transplanting. T2 and T3 means at the end of the first (2015) and the second (2016) growing season after transplanting, respectively.
2

Fig. 2. Height, diameter and their increments in relation to provenance and slow-release fertilizer of yellowhorn seedling at transplanting (T1), at the end of the first (2015, T2) and the second (2016, T3) growing season after transplanting. Error bars represent SE of increments at the end of the first (2015, T2) and the second (2016, T3) growing seasons, and of size at transplanting. Bars marked with different letters differ significantly for total height or diameter (upper case letters) and growth increment (lower case) according to Duncan’s test (α = 0.05), respectively. Comparison letters for height and diameter at T1 and T2 are not presented owing to an occurring interaction.

3

Fig. 3. Yellowhorn seedling stem biomass, root biomass and their increments in relation to slow-release fertilizer (SRF) prior to transplanting and at the end of the second (2016, T3) growing season after transplanting. Error bars represent SE of biomass prior to transplanting and increments at the end of the second growing season (2016, T3). Bars marked with different letters differ significantly for stem or root biomass (upper case letters) and their increments (lower case) according to Duncan’s test (α = 0.05), respectively. Comparison letters for stem and root biomass prior to transplanting are not presented owing to an occurring interaction.