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Variation in adaptive traits among and within Spanish and European populations of Castanea sativa: selection of trees for timber production

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Abstract

Phenological, growth, form, and survival traits were assessed in 3-, 4-, 7-, 8-, and 12-year-old seedlings in two provenance–progeny tests of sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Miller). One trial included six Spanish populations, with two subpopulations corresponding to wild and orchard trees distinguished within each population, and 77 open-pollinated families. The second trial encompassed six European populations and 156 open-pollinated families. Differences between populations were highly significant for phenological, growth, and form traits, and changes in the ranking of some populations were found for growth traits over the years of the study. Significant differences in survival were reported for the first time. Observed geographic variation among chestnut populations confirmed that drought is an important factor in determining traits related to growth and phenology. Significant differences among families were detected for all traits except for survival. Estimated individual heritabilities ranged from 0.21 to 0.43 for flushing, 0.16 to 0.37 for growth traits and straightness, 0.12 to 0.17 for bud set, and 0.08 to 0.24 for apical dominance. Significant, moderate genetic correlations were observed between growth and form traits, apical dominance and straightness, and flushing and bud set. On the basis of volume and form traits, the best trees of the best families within the best-adapted populations were selected for their inclusion in main and elite Galician breeding populations.

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Acknowledgments

This study was initially supported by the R + D CASCADE Project (EVK2-CT1999-00006) of the European Commission (1999–2000) and the “Plan de Mellora Forestal para Galicia” from FEOGA (2000–2006). Acquisition of the most recent measurements was supported by INIA project RTA-2009-00163 from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (2009–2012) and the INCITE Project 10MRU502012PR (2010–2013). We thank landowners Don Manuel Varela and the Neighboring Community of the Mountains of Rebordelo for allowing us to plant the trees.

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  1. Centro de Investigación Forestal de Lourizán, Apdo. 127, 36080, Pontevedra, Spain

    B. Míguez-Soto & J. Fernández-López

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  1. B. Míguez-Soto
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  2. J. Fernández-López
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Correspondence to J. Fernández-López.

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Míguez-Soto, B., Fernández-López, J. Variation in adaptive traits among and within Spanish and European populations of Castanea sativa: selection of trees for timber production. New Forests 46, 23–50 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-014-9445-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-014-9445-5

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