Tree Breeding and Genetics in New Zealand - Paperback

by C. J. a. Shelbourne (Author), Mike Carson (Author)

Foreword.- The influence of Ib Thulin.- Species and provenance testing Eastern USA species.- Species and provenance testing European and Japanese species.- Species and provenance testing western USA species.- Douglas-fir provenance and breeding.- Finale: Species and provenance testing of conifers.- Experiment design in provenance and progeny trials.- Eucalypt (hardwood) species and provenance research, and breeding programs.- Finale Eucalypts.- Cupressus and other conifers.- Clonal forestry.- Breeding theory.- Radiata breeding.- Breeding Strategy.- Conclusions.- The Future of Forest Tree Improvement in New Zealand.- Appendix.- References.

Back Jacket

Dothistroma pini changed New Zealand commercial forestry dramatically. Tree breeding became concentrated on a very few species and development of selection methods and breeding strategies changed in response to the new challenges.

Tree-Breeding and Genetics in New Zealand provides a critical historical account of the work on provenance research and tree breeding, often with the wisdom of hindsight, and it tracks the development of breeding strategy, especially for P. radiata, Douglas-fir and the most important eucalypt species, E. regnans, E. fastigata and E. nitens.

The book is a compendium of abstracts and summaries of all publications and reports on tree improvement in New Zealand since the early 1950s, with added critical comment by the author on much of the work. It is intended for other tree breeders internationally, for interested NZ foresters and for graduate students studying genetics and tree breeding.