Southern Research Station

Title: The role of genetics and tree improvement in southern forest productivity

Author: Schmidtling, Ronald C.; Robison, T.L.; McKeand, S.E.; Rousseau, R.J.; Allen, H.L.; Goldfarb, B.

Date: 2004

Source: In: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–75. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. Chapter 10. p. 97-108.

Description: Because of space limitations, a thorough discussion of the rich history of tree improvement in the Southeastern United States cannot be totally accomplished in this forum. However, a synopsis of key program highlights and the people who forged and directed these programs is presented, together with a discussion of current and future work. This discussion covers improvement programs for both southern pines and hardwoods. Comparisons of and contrasts between these two types of programs are discussed and punctuated by the reasons for successes and failures. Today, southern pine tree improvement programs are on the cutting edge of genetic technology, moving from openpollinated seed to clonal programs encompassing molecular genetic features. Programs for southern hardwoods generally are much less advanced, because there are several limiting factors unique to hardwoods and because hardwood fiber is available at low cost.

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Citation

Schmidtling, Ronald C.; Robison, T.L.; McKeand, S.E.; Rousseau, R.J.; Allen, H.L.; Goldfarb, B.  2004.  The role of genetics and tree improvement in southern forest productivity.   In: Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–75. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. Chapter 10. p. 97-108.