SCIENCE@home

Complementarity increases production in genetic mixture of loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda L.) throughout planted range

David R. Carter,T. Albaugh,O. Campoe,Jake J. Grossman,R. Rubilar,M. Sumnall,C. Maier,R. Cook,T. Fox

Published 2020 in Ecosphere

ABSTRACT

Increased genotypic diversity has been associated with increased biomass production in shortrotation tree species. Increasing the genotypic diversity of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) in an attempt to increase productivity has not been extensively studied nor tested operationally or over long durations (i.e., >7 yr). We used genetically mixed and pure rows of loblolly pine growing throughout its planted range— Virginia, North Carolina, and Brazil—to test the effects of genetic mixing on volume production. There were no significant effects of mixing rows compared to pure rows on uniformity or mortality. Under intensive silviculture, individual trees planted in mixed rows had approximately 7% greater volume than those in the pure rows (estimate = 0.015 m/tree 0.006) in the final year of measurement—year 8 for Brazil and year 10 for North Carolina and Virginia. Scaling the increase in individual stem volume under mixed rows and intensive silviculture to 1235 stems ha would equate to an additional 1.85 m ha yr in mean annual increment. Measuring the net biodiversity effect, our data suggest the positive growth response is driven by complementarity and not selection, meaning both genetic entries tend to grow larger when grown together. Additional trials are necessary to test the effects of mixing rows across large plots and to assess whether this increase is sustained throughout the rotation. If this increasing trend were to hold for intensively managed plantations, strategically mixing rows to increase productivity could be a valuable addition to an intensively managed plantation requiring relatively little added operational consideration to implement.

PUBLICATION RECORD

CITATION MAP

EXTRACTION MAP

CLAIMS

  • No claims are published for this paper.

CONCEPTS

  • No concepts are published for this paper.

REFERENCES

Showing 1-44 of 44 references · Page 1 of 1

CITED BY

Showing 1-7 of 7 citing papers · Page 1 of 1