Expected gain in selection of Pinus elliottii var. elliottii for timber production at an early age

Abstract

P. elliotii var. elliottii is the second most planted fast growing tree species in Brazilian subtropics for wood and resin production. The objective of this work was to predict genetic values of fast growing individual trees. A trial was established in a randomized complete blocks design involving 76 treatments, 75 open pollinated progenies from a clonal seed orchard and a commercial progeny as control, in a 3 m x 3 m spacing. Total heights of all individuals were measured at 1, 2, and 3 years old and also stem diameter at 1.3 m height- dbh at 3 years old. Deviance analysis was performed by using Selegen-REML/BLUP software and genetic parameters were estimated. Significant variation was detected among progenies. Estimates of narrow-sense individual heritabilities were 0.25 and 0.42, respectively, for height and dbh. Some progenies grew faster than the control (commercial progeny) and the observed genetic variation was sufficiently high to encourage selection to obtain genetic gains in wood production.