Performance of Scots Pine Seedlings from Seeds Graded by Colour
, Sergey Sokolov 2, Michael Drapalyuk 1, Vladimir Zelikov 1 and Vladan Ivetić 3Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
In the present form of manuscript “Grading of Scots Pine Seed on a Qualitative Attribute” has a draft quality rather and is untidy, very carelessly written. English is poor and chaotic. Every section of the manuscript needs improvement. Although the study is interesting and could be useful for a certain group of the scientific community, therefore, I would suggest improving the manuscript substantially, giving a chance for the next round, because the subject is interesting. However, even interesting subject does not justify low quality.
What is the value of n while calculating ANOVA? n Value used in the manuscript is too few to examine normal distribution of variables in the sample, however, Shapiro-Wilk test is appropriate for samples from 3 to 5000 but for the lesser value of n, it receives a non-normal distribution. Thus, two-way ANOVA, that is parametrical test is incorrect for such small samples.
For my specific comment please look at the attached file
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
The authors sincerely thank the reviewer for his highly professional comments, which significantly contributed to the improvement of the manuscript.
English is poor and chaotic.
Thank you very much. We made sentences more clear and simple. The manuscript vas after that revised by one colleague to whom the English is a native language.
Every section of the manuscript needs improvement.
The manuscript has been significantly revised (see L12-28; 32-58; 82-85; 106-121; 123-222), including title (see L2-3)
What is the value of n while calculating ANOVA? n Value used in the manuscript is too few to examine normal distribution of variables in the sample, however, Shapiro-Wilk test is appropriate for samples from 3 to 5000 but for the lesser value of n, it receives a non-normal distribution. Thus, two-way ANOVA, that is parametrical test is incorrect for such small samples.
Reworked the statistical design of studies in accordance with the comments of the reviewer (see L114-121, table 3 and 4)
For my specific comment please look at the attached file
Thank the reviewer. Explanations are given in the notes of the file attached below.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
The study of how seed phenotypic traits can effect seedling growth is interesting and an important area of research currently. There lies a big effort in creating the data set, and this cannot be easily redone. Whilst I think the results are interesting, I would have preferred a much more accurate description of the seed phenotypes and e.g. having registered precise images in order to revisit them once the seedling data was known. Without being an expert on forest seeds then seed darkness/lightness may be the result of different mechanisms that have different effects on seedling growth. It would be important to map out seed coat color more precisely than the three qualitative traits, and it would be more convincing if seed size, shape, texture etc. were measured as well in order to see if other attributes would have more descriptive power, and how they correlated with seed lightness. This would be my recommendation for a future study. For the present data set, the conclusion points at a potentially strenghtened hypothesis for a future study rather being conclusive in itself.
Author Response
We are thankful to the reviewer for the valuable comment and recommendation.
The authors’ hope that improvements made in the manuscript are in accordance to the reviewer’s comments and that the manuscript is improved to the point in which it can be published.
You have quite rightly remarked on the future continuation and development of this study. For the integrity of the picture, we have planned an ambitious goal-in the future to trace the path of each seed from its morphometric and spectrometric parameters to the growth and development of the seedling. That is, in fact, to create a "seedling passport". This task is quite feasible, but requires the involvement of grant funding. We are working in this direction, participating in competitions.
In order to more clearly indicate the vector of development of this study, we have added characteristic photos of the seed from each fraction (see Figure 1), which show the difference in both color and morphometry. Moreover, a description of future research has been added to the Discussion section (see line 206-210 and 221-222).
Moreover, the manuscript has been significantly revised, the English language has been improved.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
I recommend accepting the manuscript in the present form.
