Performance and Genetic Parameters of Somatic and Zygotic Progenies of Coastal Douglas-fir at 7 1/2-Years across Washington and Oregon, USA

Five genetic tests involving 37 somatic clones of coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) were planted March 2000 in Weyerhaeuser plantations across western Washington and Oregon States USA. Four of the tests are in Longview, Twin Harbors and Vail regions of Washington, and one test is in Springfield, Oregon. Each test is based on single-tree plots with 12 randomized complete-blocks. The 37 coastal Douglas-fir clones were propagated by somatic embryogenesis from four full-sib families. Zygotic seedlings from two of these full-sib families were planted across all five tests to allow comparison between somatic and zygotic trees of the same pedigree. Results are reported for survival, stem height, diameter at breast-height (DBH), volume and stem sinuosity at 7 1/2-years. On average the total population of 37 somatic clones had less stem sinuosity, but grew more slowly than zygotic trees across the five tests studied. However, the best 20% of somatic clones for growth produced 25% greater stem volume at 7 1/2-years than the zygotic fullsib families. Height had a clonal heritability of 0.61 +/- 0.09, DBH 0.64 +/- 0.06, volume 0.58 +/- 0.08 and stem sinuosity 0.26 +/- 0.06. The clonal genetic correlation between height and DBH at 7 1/2-years was 0.98 +/- 0.01, while stem sinuosity was adversely genetically correlated with growth. Clonal performance for growth and stem sinuosity was stable across tests with overall between-test correlations of 0.96 to 0.98. This clonal stability resulted in little variance due to clone x test interactions.