Abstract
Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook) is one of the major commercial conifer species in China. The present study concentrated on the assessment of growth, wood property traits, and strobili number in a 12-year grafted clone test of 62 Chinese fir breeding parents, aiming to describe the variation and correlations between these traits and to identify parent clones with the highest potential for future breeding. The results indicate that all of the growth (height, diameter at breast height, stem volume, crown-width) and wood property (wood basic density and hygroscopicity) traits varied significantly (p < 0.01) among clones, with coefficients of variation ranging from 7.6% to 30.6%. Furthermore, these traits consistently had a moderate to high (0.39–0.87) repeatability estimate (broad-sense heritability). Remarkable clonal differences were also observed for the production of male and female strobili. Phenotypic correlations among growth traits were strong (p < 0.01) and positive. Significantly negative correlations (p < 0.01 or 0.05) were found between wood basic density and growth (except for height) and hygroscopicity. The production of male and female strobili appeared to be significantly (p < 0.01) positively correlated with each other. A notable number of faster-growing parent clones were identified (n = 30); 11 of these had higher density wood with an average realized gain of 10.5% in diameter, and a 5.4% gain in wood basic density. When selection was made for growth and strobili, 10 faster-growing parent clones with medium to high production of female strobili were identified.
Highlights
Conifers dominate approximately 39% of world forests and play an important role in forestry-dependent economics and global ecosystems [1,2]
Six-year-old clones displayed a substantial variation in stem volume (V) with more than 2 times the coefficient of variation (CV) of the other growth traits (height, diameter at breast height (DBH) and crown-width (CW)); while the estimated CVs for wood properties (wood basic density (WBD) and hygroscopicity (Hy)) appeared to be higher than that of DBH at age 12
When selection was placed on DBH and the production of female strobili, 10 faster-growing parent clones (p4, p5, p6, p7, p18, p237, p238, p243, p272, and p285) were identified; this selection demonstrated a gain of 10.5% for DBH, but resulted in a loss of WBD (G = −5.1%)
Summary
Conifers dominate approximately 39% of world forests and play an important role in forestry-dependent economics and global ecosystems (e.g., carbon capture, the diversity of native habitat, and erosion control/water quality) [1,2]. A subset of conifers has been used as breeding subjects with a goal to enhance useful traits, such as rapid growth, high wood quality, and biotic and/or abiotic resistance. Representatives of these breeding subjects include loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) [6], radiata pine To identify the variation and correlation in growth, wood property traits, and strobili number, 62 Chinese fir breeding parents were subjected to a 12-year grafted clone test with an eventual goal to select the best potential parent clones for future breeding programs
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