Variation in Growth and Wood Density of Eucalyptus urophylla

摘要

Twenty-seven families representing six provenances of Eucalyptus urophylla were sampled from a provenance-family trial in China to examine genetic variation in growth and wood density. Growth data were collected annually from ages 3 to 7 years and wood density data annually from ages 3 to 6 years. For growth traits, significant differences between provenances developed by 5 years of age, but significant differences between families did not develop until age 6 years. Differences observed in wood density between provenances and between families-within-provenances were significant at all ages. Heritabilities for diameter at breast height and volume were generally very low (0.10), but that for wood density was moderate to strong (0.34-0.60). There were low negative correlations (about -0.10) between tree volume and wood density. Juvenile-mature correlations of growth traits and of wood density were high (0.70).