Five needle pines in British Columbia, Canada: Past, present, future
Conference Paper
Development
Western Canada
In British Columbia (BC), Canada, we have been involved with white pine and blister rust since the rust’s discovery on imported infected pines through the port of Vancouver in 1910. Just after the rust’s introduction, the USDA Forest Service established monitoring plots and species trials in BC, but these were abandoned when the rust became well established in the USA. Resistance research began again in 1946 with a collection of western white pine (Pinus monticola Dougl. ex D.Don) seed that was sent to Ontario for testing. In about 1950 grafted plus trees were inoculated in a disease garden, but this work was also abandoned in 1960 when it was demonstrated that seedlings from such selections could be susceptible. Parent tree selection and seedling inoculation of open-pollinated families of western white pine began again in earnest in 1987. From this material we have the basis of a breeding and seed orchard program based on partial resistance mechanisms. An F1 generation is being produced for future research. Additionally, we are considering single gene resistance traits, such as MGR, which can be pyramided onto the partial resistance of our breeding population. Efforts, particularly for conservation interests, are also being started for whitebark pine (P. albicaulis Engel.).
