Genetic variation for growth and wood density in Eucalyptus globulus ssp. globulus in Tasmania (Australia)

Abstract

Genetic parameters for diameter and Pilodyn penetration were estimated for a 5 year-old Eucalyptus globulus ssp. globulus base population established across 5 sites in Tasmania (Australia). The model included race, family plot, incomplete block and family-by-site interaction as random and replicate as fixed effects. Race effects were generally low for diameter and moderate for Pilodyn, with heritabilities across the 5 sites of h(2) = 0.20 and 0.30 respectively. For each trait, correlations between trials were generally high, suggesting that a combined analysis across sites should be appropriate. The genetic correlation between Pilodyn penetration and diameter was moderately unfavourable (averaged 0.25) whereas race correlations were low but favourable (-0.19).