Abstract
The increased demand for wood to replace oil-based products with renewable products has lifted focus to the Baltic Sea region where the environment is favorable for woody biomass growth. The aim of this study was to estimate broad-sense heritabilities and genotype-by-environment (G×E) interactions in growth and phenology traits in six climatically different regions in Sweden and the Baltics. We tested the hypothesis that both bud burst and bud set have a significant effect on the early growth of selected poplar clones in Northern Europe. Provenance hybrids of Populus trichocarpa adapted to the Northern European climate were compared to reference clones with adaptation to the Central European climate. The volume index of stemwood was under low to medium genetic control with heritabilities from 0.22 to 0.75. Heritabilities for phenology traits varied between 0.31 and 0.91. Locally chosen elite clones were identified. G×E interactions were analyzed using pairwise comparisons of the trials. Three different breeding zones for poplars between the latitudes of 55° N and 60° N in the Baltic Sea Region were outlined. The studied provenance hybrids with origin from North America offer a great possibility to broaden the area with commercial poplar plantations in Northern Europe and further improve the collection of commercial clones to match local climates. We conclude that phenology is an important selection criterion after growth.
Highlights
Medium Rotation Forests with fast-growing Populus species offer a significant complementary source of renewable raw materials for various industries worldwide [1]
Further expansion of the area of poplar plantations in the region needs to be facilitated through an increased genetic variation of commercially deployable planting stock
Since 2003, around 100 clones were selected for testing in a number of clonal trials in Sweden, Latvia, and Lithuania. This material is a subject of the present study in which we explore phenotypic variation, broad-sense heritability, and genotype-byenvironment (G×E) interaction for a number of phenology and growth traits as well as survival
Summary
Medium Rotation Forests with fast-growing Populus species offer a significant complementary source of renewable raw materials for various industries worldwide [1]. Further expansion of the area of poplar plantations in the region needs to be facilitated through an increased genetic variation of commercially deployable planting stock. This is important as poplars are becoming of interest for planting at higher latitudes in Sweden or in continental climate conditions in the Baltic region. Christersson tested the same material in southernmost Sweden at 55° 39′ N [7] He pointed out the vulnerability of the material to early autumn frosts, of the P. deltoides hybrids, while evaluating a number of intraspecific P. trichocarpa hybrids as potentially usable in southern Sweden
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