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Abstract
Several features of central importance to genetic improvement of white spruce have been demonstrated by tree breeders. First, white spruce is genetically a highly variable species and much of the existent variation can be readily incorporated in planting stock (Jeffers 1969, Holst and Teich 1969). Second, local seed often is not the best for rapid growth (Nienstaedt 1969). Third, certain stands in southeastern Ontario (Ottawa River Valley) have demonstrated genetic potential for relatively rapid growth over a wide geographic range, including the Lake States (Nienstaedt and Teich 1972). Some of the stands from which genetically superior seed has come are still present and it seems likely that other stands in the Valley will be shown to possess genetic superiority in growth potential. Fourth, the consistently superior growth of certain Ontario seedlots when grown from North Dakota to New Brunswick suggest that one or at most a very few seed orchards could provide improved seed for a geographic region such as the Lake States.
Parent Publication
Citation
Lester, D.T. 1973. Minimal approaches to genetic improvement of growth rates in white spruce. In: Joint Proceedings of the Tenth Lake States Forest Tree Improvement Conference and the Seventh Central States Forest Tree Improvement Conference; Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-3. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Forest Experiment Station. 40-44
