Progeny test of European larch and hybrid larch in Brassard Township (BRA42801)
By Martin Perron
Manicouagan-Outardes Management Unit (MRNF) and Louisiana Pacifi c Canada Ltd., St-Michel Division
Hull
Figure 1. Location of experimental plantations and bioclimatic domains. (map Gaétan Numainville)
Material and methods
In 1998, 23 uniparental EL families were produced through open pollination in our experimental indoor orchards. The 16 HL uniparental families are from seeds collected in 1998 in Maine (Unity Seed Orchard 50). In addition, the hybrid variety 10373 (German orchard;
F. von LOCHOW-PETKUS) was used as a positive control because it is among the best performing in several of our tests (11 tests in 4 bioclimatic domains). The seeding and production of seedlings was done at the St-Modeste nursery in 1999 and 2000. The tests were composed of eight blocks, and linear plots (families) were made up of four plants spaced at 2.0 m intervals. Spacing between rows was 3.0 m at the time of planting. This experiment is repeated on three sites and a similar number of bioclimatic domains: the Brassard Township site in the balsam fi r/yellow birch domain (4c-T, BRA42601), the Rivière-aux-Rosiers site (5g-T, RRO42901) and the Villeroy Township site (2b-T, VRO42801) (see map to locate sites).
Description of experiment in Brassard Township (BRA42801):
Photo 1. Progeny test after planting. BRA42601 (Photo Gaston Lapointe).
Location
Municipality Saint-Michel-des-Saints
Province Québec
Latitude 46o44’ 28’’N
Longitude 73o55’ 10’’W
Area 1 ha
Climate, soil, topography
Mean annual precipitation 900 to 1 100 mm Mean annual temperature 2.5 0 C
Length of growing season 160 to 170 days
Altitude 386 m
Slope 3-7%
Deposit Sand (Sand 91%-Silt 6%-Clay 3%)
pH 4.47
CHRONOLOGY OF MAIN ACTIVITIÉS
Stand cutting 2000 cut with protection of regeneration and soil with feller-buncher
Site preparation May 2001 clearing; mixture of organic and mineral layers; stacking Experiment
establishment May 2001 Managing
competing vegetation
Manual releases: 2000, 2003, 2007 Measurements October 2001 survival
Octobre 2005 survival, total height, growth in 2005, forks, multiple leaders
Results 5 years after planting
BRA42601 (4c-T): survival rate 90%.
Source and Total Rank Nb TS HTM05 en
cm CV en % HTMin. en
cm
HTMax. en cm
20975 (1st rank; JxE) 26 0.87 355a 17 240 469
20984 (4th rank; ExJ) 24 0.81 336ab 20 183 448
20953 (10th rank; MEE) 28 0.90 310b 17 226 446
10373 (14th rank) 53 0.90 308b 25 160 485
MEE (23 fam.) 516 0.93 256a 23 106 446
MEH ( 6 fam. JxE) 166 0.88 334b 19 184 511
MEH (10 fam. ExJ) 268 0.86 304c 23 106 462
Test 1003 0.90 284 25 106 511
Other sites:
VRO42801 (2b-T): survival rate 92%.
Source and Total Rank Nb TS HTM05en
cm CV en % HTMin. en
cm
HTMax. en cm
20974 (1st rank; JxE) 30 0.94 329a 19 220 437
20986 (4th rank; ExJ) 31 0.97 294ab 26 113 406
20953 (13th rank; MEE) 28 0.87 262bc 21 173 380
10373 (17th rank) 62 0.97 249c 24 100 365
MEE (23 fam.) 629 0.89 218a 29 39 391
MEH ( 6 fam. JxE) 181 0.94 294b 26 51 477
MEH (10 fam. ExJ) 307 0.96 265c 28 33 429
Test 1179 0.92 244 31 33 477
RRO42901 (5g-T): survival rate 63%.
Source and Total Rank Nb TS HTM05en
cm CV en % HTMin. en
cm
HTMax. en cm
20979 (1st rang; JxE) 04 0.16 212a 34 103 250
20989 (5th rang; ExJ) 24 0.78 189a 20 111 266
20966 (2th rang; MEE) 24 0.81 197a 23 58 271
10373 (39th rang) 12 0.20 137b 33 82 244
MEE (23 fam.) 495 0.76 168a 28 58 285
MEH ( 6 fam. JxE) 46 0.24 177a 27 84 250
MEH (10 fam. ExJ) 196 0.64 172a 25 62 266
Test 749 0.63 169 27 58 285
Photo 2. Fifth year post-planting measurement. BRA42601 (Photo Annie Fortin).
Photo 3. Fifth year post-planting measurement.
RRO42901 (Photo Gaston Lapointe).
Information contacts:
Martin Perron, biologiste, Ph. D.
Researcher, Larch tree improvement (Direction de la recherche forestière) martin.perron@mrnf.gouv.qc.ca 418 643-7994 poste 6547 Gaston Lapointe, tech. f. sp.
Responsible for technical aspects of larch tree improvement gaston.lapointe@mrnf.gouv.qc.ca
418 643-7994 poste 6552
Reference:
STIPANICIC, A. 1999. Les mélèzes laricin et hybrides. Dans:
L’amélioration génétique en foresterie: où en sommes-nous?, Rivière-du-Loup. pp. 77-85.
Portrait of Mauricie Administrative Region
Batiscan Municipality (Number 1 on map) is part of the Mauricie Administrative Region. This region occupies an area of 39,778 km2. The forested area represents 33,916 km2, of which 83% are public lands and 17% private. Productive and accessible forest lands in the public domain total 26,088 km2 and have a gross merchantable volume of 274 Mm3. Water and non-forested areas total 11% and 4%, respectively. The area of protected areas, parks and ecological reserves total 580 km2.
Public forests in Mauricie contain 88% of the gross merchantable volume available in the region. Softwood and mixedwood cover types predominate. Mean tree volume, all species included, is 105 m3/ha. According to the cover type, the area of accessible productive forest public lands is as follows: hardwood 17%, mixedwood 37%, softwood 40% and no cover 6%. The volume distribution by cover type is as follows: hardwood 21%, mixedwood 40%, and softwood 39%.
Stands are generally relatively young, with those less than 60 years occupying 60% of the area. Gross merchantable volume is composed of 57% softwood and 43% hardwood. Softwoods mainly belong to the “spruce/fi r/jack pine/larch”
group. Fir and spruce are dominant, although the proportion of jack pine is important. Hardwoods contain 31% of hard-hardwoods and 12% poplars.
Information source:
MINISTÈRE DES RESSOURCES NATURELLES. 2002. Rapport sur l’état des forêts québécoises, 1995-1999. 272 p.
Map legend:
Mauricie Administrative Region .
Day 2 − September 18, Batiscan (No 1 on map) and Trois-Rivières (No 2) Day 2 − September 18, Stop 1, Berthier
Lanaudière Administrative Region
(See Day 1 portrait and map p. 11) Stop 2. Batiscan
Mauricie Administrative Region
Notes
This text was summarized from a manuscript submitted to Forestry Chronicle as: Colas F., M. Perron, D. Tousignant, C. Parent, M. Pelletier and P. Lemay. A novel approach for the operational production of HL seeds under northern climatic conditions.
Berthier Forest Nursery
See the brochure Pépinière forestière de Berthier for a detailed presentation:
• fi rst forest nursery in Québec, established in 1908;
• the only public nursery that produces hard-hardwoods (containers and bareroot);
• average seeding per year in containers: 3 million conifers and 1 million hardwoods. Bareroot:
0.4 million hardwoods;
• other major crops: poplar and white spruce rooted cuttings.
Berthier Tree Seed Centre (BFSC)
See the brochure «Centre de semences forestières de Berthier» for a detailed presentation.
• the only tree seed centre in Québec. Supplies all tree seeds needed for seedling production in Québec;
• the seed centre has been in operation since 1908, with new equipment inaugurated in 1987;
• ten-year average quantity of softwood cones and hardwood seeds treated per year: 2000 hectolitres;
• 15 conifer species and 20 hardwood species treated at the Centre. Seeds are stored in the MRNF seed bank at Berthier.
Hybrid Larch plant needs for the reforestation program Requirements for hybrid larch (HL) will be more than 550,000 in 2008, and will stabilize above 800,000 by 2012. All HL plants will be produced by a system of mass propagation by cuttings at the Saint-Modeste (Lower St. Lawrence) nursery. The annual production
target was set at 500,000 plants by the DGPSP (Direction générale des pépinières et des stations piscicoles, ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune). To attain these production objectives, we judge that one seed can produce 15 deliverable plants. Seed needs are therefore set at nearly 32,000 per year. Before being shipped for reforestation, the plants must satisfy very rigorous quality control standards in terms of root development, stem straightness, etc.
Indoor Seed Orchard
Until 2003 the production of HL seeds was done by carrying out controlled crosses between selected JL and EL parents. Since then, seeds are produced by controlled mass pollination in indoor orchards.
Infrastructure
High or “cathedral” tunnels are conventional structures (Harnois, Ovaltech®, 7 m wide, 3.5 m in height at the centre and 2.6 m in height on the sides, with arches every 1.5 m) with arches modifi ed to increase their height to 4.6 m at the centre, reducing the width from 7 to 4.4 m (Fig. 1). In the fall, the shelters are covered with 6- mil polyethylene to prevent snow accumulation inside (Fig. 2).
The cover protects the trees from rain and frost. In addition, heat build-up ensures early fl ower development in the spring. The cover is removed immediately after fl ower pollination occurs, which provides optimal light conditions for cone development, tree growth and fl ower initiation.
Effect of springtime temperature
The closed cover increases the temperature within the shelters, which creates a “greenhouse effect” that accelerates fl ower development and hastens pollen dissemination and female fl ower receptivity, as compared to trees in the outdoors. This phenological lag helps eliminate the risk of pollen contamination with outdoor trees.