Stem defects, including sinuosity, large branches, and the occurrence of steep-angled
branches (e.g., forks and ramicorns) can occur with high frequency in young
plantations of Coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco).
The importance of including these stem defects as criteria in early selection depends, in
great part, on...
Effects of four inbreeding levels (F = 0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5) and
two supplemental mass pollination (SMP) methods (agitation of
naturally shedding pollen with "air blaster" and pollen application
from large "pollen wand" atomizer) were evaluated on seed of trees
from eleven full-sibling Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.]
Franco) families in...
Index selection provides an efficient means of conducting selection on multiple traits by combining information on economic value,
heritability, and the genetic and phenotypic correlations between traits to improve overall merit. The use of this method in forestry has been hampered by the lack of knowledge of the relative importance...
Forests are important to Oregon for their beauty as well as economic value, and Douglas fir trees are among the most common and important in the state. Managing and monitoring Oregon’s forests is imperative to ensure they can remain healthy and productive. One tool that helps forest scientists to understand...
Estimating volume gains in genetically improved stands at rotation age is challenging because first-generation progeny tests in Douglas-fir were typically established to measure the relative growth performance of individual trees from open-pollinated parent trees. The overall goal of this dissertation research was to improve growth simulation of genetically improved Douglas-fir...
Budburst, the initiation of annual growth in plants, is sensitive to climate variation and is therefore used to monitor physiological responses to climate change. Budburst timing can vary between regions of an individual tree, but this phenomenon it is unaccounted for in current monitoring efforts and may contribute to the...
