RNGR.net is sponsored by the USDA Forest Service and Southern Regional Extension Forestry and is a colloborative effort between these two agencies.

U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Forest Service Southern Regional Extension Forestry Southern Regional Extension Forestry

Improvements in Stem Form and Growth of Elite Genotypes in Loblolly Pine

While previous research showed that volume was the most important trait for economic return, there is increased interest in capitalizing on genotypes with desirable form for sawtimber production. The Lower Gulf Elite Population, a joint breeding effort among 3 cooperative breeding programs in the southeastern United States, provides a unique opportunity to assess the potential stem form improvement of elite loblolly pine selections. Forty-eight parents from three cooperative breeding programs were bred in a series of six 8-tree disconnected diallels, comprised of selections from the Atlantic Coastal Plain, Florida, and Livingston Parrish provenances. Previous results from a complementary polymix test series of the same parents demonstrated 6-year volume gains exceeding 40% over local checks. An analysis of six year growth, disease, and stem form traits will be presented.


Download this file:

PDF document Download this file — PDF document, 243Kb

Details

Author(s): W. Patrick Cumbie, Steven E. McKeand, Jesus Espinoza, Fikret Isik, James E. Grissom

Publication: Tree Improvement and Genetics - Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference - 2007