Gain efficiency in short-term testing: experimental results

1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bailian Li ◽  
Claire G. Williams ◽  
W.C. Carlson ◽  
Constance A. Harrington ◽  
C.C. Lambeth

Height growth of loblolly pine (Pinustaeda L.) was measured in trees subjected to one of five irrigation and fertilization regimes in a closely spaced genetic test for 3 years. Shoot components of 3rd-year annual height increment were measured over two contrasting treatments. Juvenile height and number of stem units in summer growth length in the fully irrigated and fertilized short-term test regime exhibited (i) the highest juvenile-mature correlations (family mean correlation = 0.41–0.68), (ii) high individual-tree heritabilities (0.38–0.44), which were two- to three-fold higher than older tree values in a conventional genetic test of the same families, (iii) high genetic stability across two extreme short-term test treatments (genetic correlation = 0.61–0.80), and (iv) an efficiency in genetic gain per generation of 81–87% relative to selection on height at age 8 years.

1994 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 714-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire G. Williams ◽  
Robert A. Megraw

Open-pollinated seeds were collected from loblolly pine (Pinustaeda L.) selections made in natural stands in eastern North Carolina, then planted in a short-term, closely spaced test and in a conventional genetic test. Wood density measurements from seedlings, from older trees, and from parents aged 40–75 years old were used to estimate the genetic covariance structure between juvenile and mature wood. These data were also used to determine if the genetic relationship between juvenile and mature wood varied with the estimation method used or with the fertilizer and irrigation treatments in the short-term test. Age–age relationships were moderately to highly positive and these results were corroborative using several methods: parent–offspring regression and coefficient of genetic prediction, half-sib analyses, and graphical use of type I selection mistakes. Strong age–age relationships (rg = 0.76 to 0.90) were expressed between juvenile wood in the short-term test and older-tree wood density in the genetic test. Moderate to high heritabilities (h2 = 0.55–0.76) were estimated for juvenile wood in short-term tests. The latter estimates tended to be higher than heritability estimates based on parent–offspring regression (h2 = 0.23–0.25). There was negligible family × treatment interaction due to rank change between short-term testing treatments. Height and specific gravity expressed a slight positive correlation at all ages.


1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 1085-1089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire G. Williams

The following experiment was done to test the hypothesis that acceleration of seedling growth increases the juvenile–mature correlation for growth. Growth traits of 18 open-pollinated loblolly pine (Pinustaeda) familes were compared across (i) field trials measured 8 years after planting (mature age), (ii) a short-term test environment with a supplemental incandescent light source (20-h photoperiod) and a higher fertilizer level, and (iii) a short-term test environment with no supplemental day length and a lower fertilizer level. The ranking of two seedlots of known, extreme performance and the juvenile–mature correlations were used as the criteria of early testing success. Juvenile–mature (family mean) correlations were low (r = 0.13) for the growth-accelerating environment relative to the natural day length environment (r = 0.59) and two check seedlots ranked correctly only in the natural day length environment. The genetic correlations between the short-term tests are high for total height [Formula: see text] but lower for height produced after first budset, the trait that has shown value as a juvenile indicator [Formula: see text] The growth-accelerating treatment increases growth per unit time but prompts abnormal shoot development. The nonaccelerating treatment with no supplemental light offered the most promise for genetic testing of 1st-year loblolly pine seedlings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (5) ◽  
pp. 623-633
Author(s):  
Y H Weng ◽  
J Grogan ◽  
D W Coble

Abstract Growth response to thinning has long been a research topic of interest in forest science. This study presents the first 3–4 years of response of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) growth to thinning at different intensities. Data were collected from the East Texas Pine Research Project’s region-wide loblolly pine thinning study, which covers a wide variety of stand conditions. Four treatments, light, moderate, and heavy thinning, respectively having 370, 555, and 740 residual trees per hectare after thinning, and an unthinned control, were included. Individual tree diameter at breast height (dbh) and total height were recorded annually for the first 3–4 years after thinning. Results indicate significant differences between treatments in dbh growth in each year after thinning, as well as for all years combined. Each thinning treatment had significantly greater dbh growth than the control in the first growing season with this positive response being more evident in the case of the heavier thinning or at the later years post-thinning. Conversely, the thinning effect on tree height growth was initially negligibly negative, then becoming positive after 2–4 years, with the heavier thinning becoming positive sooner. Tree size class, assigned based on prethinning dbh, had a significant effect on both dbh and height growth responses. Compared to the control, small trees had a greater response both in dbh and in height growth than the medium and large trees over the measurement period. At the stand level, the heavier thinning had significantly less stand basal area per hectare, but the difference in stand basal area per hectare between the thinned and the unthinned plots decreased with years post-thinning. Results from this study can improve our understanding in thinning effects and help forest managers make accurate decisions on silvicultural regimes.


2013 ◽  
Vol 43 (9) ◽  
pp. 852-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Dean ◽  
Scott D. Roberts ◽  
Robert S. Seymour

A general form for expressing gross volume increment in terms of stand density is derived and tested with data from spacing trials in red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.), longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.), and loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). The equation relates the stand sum of individual-tree volume increment per metre height increment to a power function of quadratic mean diameter times tree density. The proposed equation fit the data best when the model included an intercept. Within each species, the fits were unbiased with respect to the independent variables, plantation age, and site height, and with the exception of the youngest ages for red alder and loblolly pine, they were unbiased with respect to the plot sums of individual-tree volume increment divided by individual height increment. Exponents estimated for quadratic mean diameter for each species ranged from 1.58 to 1.80. The resulting equations indicate a linear relationship between the stand sum of individual-tree volume increment per metre height increment and stand density. Scattergrams of gross-volume increment per hectare per year and stand density can be recovered by multiplying the predicted values of the regressions by Lorey’s height. The regressions support the hypothesis that each metre of height growth produces consistent changes in stem size, regardless of initial tree size, age, or site quality, and implies that the change in stem size is a predictable power function of stem diameter for an individual tree or quadratic mean diameter for a stand.


1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 116-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Waldrop

Abstract Four variations of the fell-and-burn technique, a system developed to produce mixed pine-hardwood stands in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, were compared in the Piedmont region. All variations of this technique successfully improved the commercial value of low-quality hardwood stands by introducing a pine component. After six growing seasons, loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) occupied the dominant crown position and oaks the codominant position in fell-and-burn treated stands on poor to medium quality sites. The precise timing of felling residual stems, as prescribed by the fell-and-burn technique, may be flexible because winter and spring felling produced similar results. Although summer site preparation burns reduced hardwood height growth by reducing the length of the first growing season, they did not improve pine survival or growth. Pines were as tall as hardwoods within four growing seasons in burned plots and within six growing seasons in unburned plots. Additional research is needed to determine the level or intensity of site preparation needed to establish pine-hardwood mixtures over a range of site conditions. South. J. Appl. For. 21(3):116-122.


2005 ◽  
Vol 213 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 54-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott D. Roberts ◽  
Thomas J. Dean ◽  
David L. Evans ◽  
John W. McCombs ◽  
Richard L. Harrington ◽  
...  

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