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Home → Publications → Tree Improvement and Genetics → Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference → 24th Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference (1997) → Early Growth Response of Diverse Families of Loblolly Pine to Nutrient Amendments on a Poor Site

Early Growth Response of Diverse Families of Loblolly Pine to Nutrient Amendments on a Poor Site

Open-pollinated families of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) from the "Lost Pines" provenance in Texas and the Atlantic Coastal Plain were established on a droughty, infertile site in the Sandhills of North Carolina where half the trees received nutrient amendments and the other half received no fertilizer. Height growth during the first three years has been evaluated as well as foliar nutrient concentrations. Response to fertilizer applications has been large with a 43% increase in height at age three years. The Atlantic Coastal families were significantly taller than the Texas families in both the fertilized and control plots, and no genotype by environment interactions were observed. While no provenance differences for nutrient concentrations were large, family variation was large, but no genetic association between nutrient concentrations and growth were found. Even given the tendency for low genotype by environment interaction for open-pollinated families of loblolly pine, the adaptability of the Atlantic Coastal families to such extreme environmental conditions was surprising. The long-term performance of the trees will be evaluated to see if this trend continues.


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Author(s): Steven E. McKeand, James E. Grissom, David M. O'Malley, H. Lee Allen

Publication: Tree Improvement and Genetics - Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference - 1997

Section: Contributed Presentations: Full Papers