Abstract: Pinus thunbergii is the main forestation tree species of coastal protection forests in northern Shandong Peninsula of China. Its seed germination and seedling early growth were studied under the conditions of different water salinity (0, 0.02, 0.04, and 0.08 mol·L^-1) and mother tree sizes. With increasing sea water salinity, the seed germination rate, root  and plumule length, and the dry weights of root and plumule decreased significantly. Mother tree size had little effects on the seed germination rate, but affected the root and plumule length and the plumule dry weight significantly. The interaction of sea water salinity and mother tree size affected the root and plumule length significantly, but less affected the germination rate and the dry weights of root and plumule.

Key words: Tropical wet seasonal rainforest, Secondary forest, Biomass, Biomass partition, Fruit yield, Amomum villosum cultivation