Growth and survival of Siberian larch in Alberta at the species, population, and family levels

Abstract

Survival and growth of Siberian larch (SL, Larix sibirica Ledeb.) were compared with those of three conifer species native to Alberta, Canada: lodgepole pine (LP; Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. ex S. Watson), white spruce (WS, Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), and jack pine (JP, Pinus banksiana Lamb.) at 12, 10, and 3 trial locations, respectively. The average data age was 18 years (range: 3 to 27 years). Survival of SL averaged 4.2% and 6.5% worse than LP and WS, respectively, while it was 5% better than JP. SL grew 25%, 94%, and 23% taller than LP, WS, and JP, respectively. Stem forking rates were similar between SL and LP, WS, and JP. The best seed sources for Alberta were mature trees established in Alberta and Saskatchewan of unknown initial provenances. The Russian Altai Mountain source grew well at high elevations, while the Finnish Raivola performed well in the northern, low-elevation area. Open-pollinated progeny tests of 58 families planted in five diverse locations yielded individual-tree narrow-sense heritabilities and family mean heritabilities for height at age 15 of 0.15 and 0.59, respectively. The type B between-site genetic correlation was 0.44, indicating a strong genotype × environment interaction. SL has performed well in Alberta, and its growth can be further improved by selection and breeding from appropriate seed sources.