Offspring–parent correlations for wood density of Pinustecunumanii between native and exotic environments

Abstract

Seedlings from 83 mother trees of Pinustecunumanii (Schw.) Eguiluz & Perry, originating in a natural population in Belize, were established in two adjoining progeny tests at La Arcadia, Colombia. One 12-mm wood core was removed from each mother tree in Belize at seed collection, age 25–30 years, and 8-mm wood cores were taken from an average of nine trees per family in 8-year-old progeny trials in Colombia. Unextracted gravimetric wood density was obtained for juvenile wood (rings 1 to 10) and mature wood core segments (rings 11 to ≈25) for each parent tree as well as (juvenile wood) cores from the progeny. The wood density of progeny in Colombia averaged 377 kg/m3 versus 502 kg/m3 and 601 kg/m3 for the juvenile and mature wood of the parents, respectively. The correlation coefficient (r) for wood density between the mature wood of the parent trees and the juvenile wood of the progeny was 0.29 (significant at the p < 0.01 level). The estimated genetic gain in wood density as a result of selecting 1 in 20 trees in a progeny trial in Colombia was 8% when the estimated heritability (0.48) from sibling data was used, versus 5% when applying the offspring-parent estimate of heritability (0.27) from the correlation method.