Skip to main content
Research article - Peer-reviewed, 2022

Phenotypic plasticity in Populus trichocarpa clones across environments in the Nordic-Baltic region

Ronnberg-Wastljung, Ann Christin; Adler, Anneli; Karacic, Almir; Liepins, Kaspars; Richards, Thomas J.; Ingvarsson, Par K.; Weih, Martin

Abstract

Transition towards a bio-based society requires large amounts of woody biomass to be converted into biofuels and biomaterials. Populus species are good candidates for growth in short rotations, but there is a lack of climate-adapted plant material suitable for growth at the high latitudes of the Nordic-Baltic region. Here we studied the growth and phenology traits in 63 Populus trichocarpa clones earlier preliminary selected for growth at northern latitudes, in three different field sites; i.e. in central Sweden, eastern and western Latvia. The material showed moderate broad sense heritabilities, with high values for phenology traits, indicating opportunities for selection. Genotype x environment (g x e) interaction was identified for all traits, but the phenotypic correlation between pairs of sites provided more detailed information indicating the strength of the g x e interaction. The between-clone variation in plasticity was high, and we identified some clones showing a high and stable performance across the three sites. These clones are of particular interest for the commercial deployment and future breeding of Populus material for the Nordic-Baltic region.

Keywords

Phenotypic plasticity; stability; genotype x environment interaction; heritability; plant breeding

Published in

Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research
2022, volume: 37, number: 1, pages: 1-5

Authors' information

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Biology
Adler, Anneli (Adler, Annelie)
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Crop Production Ecology
Karacic, Almir
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Crop Production Ecology
Liepins, Kaspars
Latvian State Forest Research Institute Silava
Richards, Thomas
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Biology
Richards, Thomas
University of Queensland
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Biology
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Crop Production Ecology

UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science

Publication Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2022.2039279

URI (permanent link to this page)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/116160