Sammendrag
Identification of stocktype attributes that speed up field establishment has potential to reduce rotation
time of Christmas tree productions. Such morphological and physiological attributes can be targeted
in the nursery production. This study tested the effects of container type and nursery seedling density
on stocktype attributes at planting and the effects of these on field performance over two years in
Abies lasiocarpa and A. nordmanniana Christmas tree stock. Nursery conditions had a considerable
impact on seedling attributes at planting. Although sets of these correlated stocktype attributes
contributed to forecast field performance, the predictive power was low. No simple relationships
were found between plant biomass, stem diameter or height at planting and biomass at final
harvest in either of the two species under the range of stocktype variation and field conditions
tested. Contrary, stem diameter and stem height at planting explained some of the responses in
stem diameter and height after two years in the field. Thus, any target seedling approach would
have to be based on a combined set of stocktype attributes exploring more productive stocktypes.
The differences observed between stocktypes were largely due to size differences and ontogenetic
drift, and stocktypes converged towards a similar field phenotype over time.
Vis fullstendig beskrivelse