Production physiology and morphology of Populus species and their hybrids grown under short rotation. I. Clonal comparisons of 4-year growth and phenology

Height and diameter growth, stem volume production, leaf phenology and leaf number, and number of branches of Populus trichocarpa Torr. & Gray, Populus deltoides Bartr., and their F1 hybrids (P. trichocarpa X P. deltoides) were studied for 4 years in a research plantation in western Washington, United States. Twelve clones (three of each species and six of the hybrids) grew under a short-rotation silviculture regime in monoclonal plots at spacings of 1 X 1 m (10 000 stems/ha). Clones represented a north-south gradient within the geographic distribution of both the two North American poplar species and the parentage of the hybrid material. The results support earlier work by contributing additional evidence for the superiority of the hybrids. However, the relative hybrid superiority in these monoclonal plots was less pronounced than that found earlier in field trials with single-tree plots because of heightened intraclonal competition. After 4 years, mean estimated stem volume of the hybrids was 1.5 times that of P. trichocarpa and 2.3 times that of P. deltoides. Total tree height of the hybrids was 1.1 times that of P. trichocarpa and 1.3 times that of P. deltoides. Clonal variation was the dominant theme in height and diameter growth, stem volume productivity, time of bud break and bud set, tree mortality, and number of branches. Populus trichocarpa had the highest number of sylleptic branches, P. deltoides had the lowest, and hybrids were intermediate. Significant clone by replicate interactions were observed in height, diameter, and volume growth. Phenological traits, such as the dates of bud break and bud set, and the length of growing period only partly explained the observed differences in growth between the P. trichocarpa X P. deltoides hybrids and the parental species.