Wind resistance correlated to growth and wood properties of 50 Eucalyptus camaldulensis provenance families

Abstract

To find the main influencing factors of wind resistance in Eucalyptus camaldulensis and to select excellent high-yielding and wind-resistant families for production, this research, based on a three-year successive study of 114 E. camaldulensis provenance families, selected 50 of the families as the study material. Growth traits (tree height, diameter at breast height-DBH, and individual volume), wood properties (wood density, fiber length, fiber width, and ratio of fiber length to width), non-destructive wood traits (Pilodyn penetration value and stress-wave value), and wind damage indexes were measured and analyzed using SPSS and Genstat 7.0 Statistics. Results showed that differences in traits were highly significant (P < 0.01), except for DBH (P=0.062), ratio of fiber length to width (P=0.636), and bark thickness (P=0.174). Single stand heritabilities were 0.046-0.885, and family heritabilities were 0.077-0.777; fiber width(0.684), tree height(0.590), wood density(0.643), and stress-wave value(0.777) also had high heritability. The range of phenotypic variation coefficients was 5.11%-87.57%; coefficients of genetic variation were 1.78% to 34.57%; and coefficients of environmental variation were 4.43% to 80.74%. The variation of wind damage index and individual volume was higher, which was help to the selection of excellent wind-resistant families. The correlation analysis was significant between fiber length and wood properties (wood density (r=0.234), Pilodyn penetration value (r=-0.169), and stress-wave value (r=-0.514)), and also between fiber width and growth traits (tree height (r=-0.253), DBH (r=-0.323), and individual volume bark thickness (r=-0.323)). Meanwhile, wind damage indexes were significantly correlated to tree height (r=-0.607), individual volume (r=-0.346), stress-wave value (r=-0.123), and bark thickness (r=-0.120), but not to wood fiber length, ratio of fiber length to width, DBH, Pilodyn penetration value, or wood density. The genetic relationships among wind damage index and tree height, individual volume were higher than the other characters. Using the comprehensive estimate method, five families:2007, 2006, 20027, 2005, and 2008, with favorable growth and wind resistance as well as genetic gains ranging from 0.53 to 22.39 were selected.