Genotypic correlations between early cone-set and height growth in Picea abies clonal trials
2001
Almqvist, C. | Jansson, G. | Sonesson, J. (The Forestry Research Institute of Sweden SkogForsk, Uppsala (Sweden). Uppsala Science Park)
Trees are often selected for breeding and mass propagation on the basis of their height or height growth. This could affect genetic gain and diversity in the breeding populations, if there are strong genetic correlations between growth and reproductive traits. It could also affect the generative mass propagation of the selected materials. Therefore, we studied genotypic correlations between cone-set, height, and height growth before and after flowering in two series of Picea abiesclonal trials. Broad sense heritability values derived for cone-set ranged from 0.29 to 0.57, and were two to three times higher than those for growth traits. The genotypic correlations between cone-set and height were weak and not statistically significant. Genotypic correlations between cone-set and height increment were also weak and non-significant. However, strong genotypic correlations (0.67-1.00) in cone-set were found between trials at sites where conditions and vegetative growth differed markedly, indicating a low G=E interaction for flower initiation. The results show that the differences in fecundity between clones are under strong genetic control. The weak and non-significant genotypic correlations found between early cone-set and growth traits imply that selection for growth traits should not affect fecundity in Picea abies
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