Comparison of development of radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) clones in monoclonal and clonal mixture plots

Type of content
Theses / Dissertations
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Forestry
Degree name
Doctor of Philosophy
Publisher
University of Canterbury. School of Forestry
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
2008
Authors
Sharma, Rajesh Kumar
Abstract

The development of radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don.) clones was compared in monoclonal and clonal mixture plots planted in an experiment established at Dalethorpe, Canterbury, New Zealand with ten radiata pine clones in September 1993. Clones were deployed in a randomised complete block plot design with three replications. Each replication contained ten treatments of monoclonal plots and one in which all the clones were intimately mixed in equal proportions. Clones significantly differed in initial morphologies, survival and stem slenderness. Sturdiness and initial heights were found to be the best predictors of initial survivals. The study revealed that mode of deployment did not affect overall productivity, but individual clones exhibited significantly different productivities between modes of deployment. All clones contributed similarly to overall productivity in the monoclonal mode of deployment, whereas the contribution of clones in the clonal mixture mode of deployment was disproportionate. A minority of the clones contributed a majority of overall productivity in the clonal mixture mode of deployment. The inclusion of competition index as an independent variable in a distance-dependent individual tree diameter increment model explained a significant amount of variability in diameter growth. The use of an inverse-squared distance to neighbouring plants in the competition index provided a slightly superior fit to the data compared to one that employed a simple inverse of distance. Addition of genotype information in the competition index further improved the fit of the model. Clones experienced different levels of competition in monoclonal and clonal mixture modes of deployment. Competition in monoclonal plots remained uniform over time, whereas some clones experienced greater competition in clonal mixture plots which led to greater variability in their tree sizes. This study indicated that single tree plot progeny test selections and early selections may miss out some good genotypes that can grow rapidly if deployed monoclonally. Stand level modelling revealed that clones differed significantly in modeled yield patterns and model asymptotes. Clones formed two distinct groups having significantly different yield models. The study also demonstrated that models developed from an initial few years’ data were biased indicators of their relative future performances. Evaluation of effectiveness of the 3-PG hybrid model using parameter values obtained from destructive sampling and species-specific values from different studies revealed that it is possible to calibrate this model for simulating the productivity of clones, and predictions from this model might inform clonal selections at different sites under differing climatic conditions. Destructive sampling at age 5 years revealed that clones significantly differed in foliage and stem biomass. The differences in productivities of clones were mainly due to differences in biomass partitioning and specific leaf areas. Clones significantly differed in dynamic wood stiffness, stem-slenderness, branch diameter, branch index and branch angle at an initial stocking of 1250 stems/ha. Mode of deployment affected stem slenderness, which is sometimes related to stiffness. Although dynamic stiffness was correlated with stem slenderness and stem slenderness exhibited a significant influence on stiffness, clones did not exhibit statistically significant differences in dynamic stiffness. Increasing initial stocking from 833 stems/ha to 2500 stems/ha resulted in a 56 % decrease in branch diameter and a 17 % increase in branch angle. Trees in the monoclonal mode of deployment exhibited greater uniformity with respect to tree size, stem-slenderness, and competition experienced by clones compared to those in the clonal mixture mode of deployment. Susceptibility of one clone to Woolly aphid suggested that greater risks were associated with large scale deployment of susceptible clones in a monoclonal mode of deployment. This study also indicated that if the plants were to be deployed in a monoclonal mode then block plot selections would have greater potential to enhance productivity.

Description
Citation
Keywords
radiata, clones, monoclonal, clonal mixture, plots
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
Rights
Copyright Rajesh kumar Sharma