Canadian Forest Service Publications
Genetic variation in juvenile growth of Pinus strobus in replicated Quebec provenance-progeny tests. 1996. Beaulieu, J.; Plourde, A.; Daoust, G.; Lamontagne, L. Forest Genetics 3(2): 103-112.
Year: 1996
Issued by: Laurentian Forestry Centre
Catalog ID: 16730
Language: English
Availability: PDF (request by e-mail)
Abstract
Patterns of genetic variation among and within provenances were investigated for growth traits in Pinus strobus L. Sixty-seven provenances represented by 266 families were tested in this study. Four-year height was measured in the nursery as 10-year height was in three tests established in Quebec. Significant differences among provenances and families within provenances were disclosed. In the nursery, provenance variation was twice that of families while both were about the same for 10-year height. While provenance-by-site interaction was significant, suggesting that provenance ranks changed across the test sites, ranks of families within provenances seemed to be stable as supported by the nonsignificant family-within-provenance-by-site interaction and the high genetic correlation coefficients. Estimates of heritabilities were moderate for 4-year height but decreased later in the field. Genetic progress in height could be obtained from selection and breeding, and indirect selection for 10-year height from 4-year height could be considered. Culling of the worst families in the nursery could successfully decrease the costs of field testing without significant loss of potential genetic gain.
