Sibs Progeny of Curly Birch at the Zaonezhye Forest Seed Orchard

The article reports the results of studies on the growth and development of curly birch sibs progeny (produced through controlled pollination) aged 35 and 15 years growing in the Zaonezhye forest seed orchard (sites 1 and 2, respectively) in south-eastern Karelia, Medvezhyegorsky District. The number of trees with signs of wood figure in the seed progeny of curly birch in site 1 was 67 % by the age of 20 years, and by the age of 35 years – almost 80 %. This can probably be attributed to the genetic characteristics of the parent (plus) trees on one hand and to the favorable conditions in the forest seed orchard during the first years of the sibs progeny development on the other. Four of the 36 hybrid families (selected to include forward- and backcrossing products) were used for the case study of the growth and development patterns in stands of different age. The sibs progeny of these hybrid families was dominated by high-stemmed plants, but the main trunk shape in the 15-year-old stand was one with necks and muffs, while in the 35-year-old stand – with small protuberances. The rate of height growth in the trees decreased notably with age, whereas radial (stem diameter) growth, on the contrary, accelerated. As the bark grew thicker, however, the formerly bulgy surface “smoothed down”. We have also identified specific features of the ground vegetation formed under the effect of curly birch plantations of different age (15- and 35 years old). A conclusion drawn from the study is that good results from targeted cultivation of curly birch with figured grain (e.g., for sliced veneer) can be achieved already by the age of 20–35 years. Furthermore, considering the number of trees and their origin, this forest seed orchard constitutes an essential part of the valuable gene pool of curly birch, which may turn into a source for expanded reproduction of the resources of this unique member of the European forest tree flora. Acknowledgements: The research was carried out with the financial support from the Russian Science Foundation (project № 22-16-00096 “Identification of genetic factors controlling the wood pattering trait in curly birch using high-throughput genotyping”). The authors would like to thank M.L. Shchurova for providing project documentation for the establishment of the Zaonezhye forest seed orchard and participation in the field survey of curly birch plantations in 2006 and 2022, аs well as O.S. Serebryakova and N.E. Petrova for participation in the expedition and assistance in collecting field materials in 2022. For citation: Vetchinnikova L.V., Titov A.F., Kostina E.E., Zhigunov A.V. Sibs Progeny of Curly Birch at the Zaonezhye Forest Seed Orchard. Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2023, no. 5, pp. 9–26. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2023-5-9-26