Genetic variation of whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis ) provenances and families from Oregon and Washington in juvenile height growth and needle color

Conference Paper

Transfer Guideline: Recommendation

A three year common garden study was conducted on whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis ) which included 215 families from the eight provenances or seed zones in Oregon and Washington. Total height and needle color were assessed. Height differed significantly among provenances and families, and was primarily associated with source elevation, longitude, and precipitation. A moderate to high heritability was estimated for total height. Seedling needle color differed among provenances and was associated with temperature:moisture indexes and source elevation. Height growth along the Cascade mountain range (USA), representing four adjoining provenances or seed zones, appeared to be similar and clinal in nature. The four remaining provenances, representing seed zones from a more moderate or extreme environmental settings, differed significantly from the Cascade provenances for one or more traits that were examined. It would seem prudent to restrict seed transfers to within each of these four seed zones respectively. This study also supports the need to plan gene conservation collections within each seed zone for whitebark pine in the Pacific Northwest region.