%0 Research article
%T Differences in growth and wood density traits in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) genetic entries grown at different spacing and sites
%A Peltola, Heli
%A Gort, Jaume
%A Pulkkinen, Pertti
%A Zubizarreta Gerendiain, Ane
%A Karppinen, Jouni
%A Ikonen, Veli-Pekka
%D 2009
%J Silva Fennica
%V 43
%N 3
%R doi:10.14214/sf.192
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/192
%X In forest breeding, stem volume has typically taken as the most  important selection trait, whereas less attention has been given to wood  density traits. In this work, we investigated the effects of spacing  and genetic entry on the growth, yield and wood density traits in 20  year old Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) based on 10 genetic entries  harvested from a spacing trial (stand density range 2000–4000 trees/ha)  in central Finland. In order to study also the site effects, we  harvested additional material from a trial located in southern Finland  (stand density of 2000 trees/ha). Compared to growth and yield  properties, wood density traits showed a lower phenotypic variation.  Phenotypic correlations among different traits were negative, and mostly  moderate to high, suggesting that selection for one trait would  simultaneously affect the others. In addition, moderate to strong  phenotypic correlations were found among different wood density traits.  Stem volume (V) and breast height diameter (DBH) were the largest in  widest spacing, whereas in the densest one tree height (H) and latewood  percentage were the highest. Genetic entry affected H and wood density  traits regardless of spacing. When comparing two sites (with same stand  density), genetic entry affected H, whereas site affected DBH and wood  density traits. Ranking between genetic entries changed depending on the  trait, spacing or site considered. Therefore, no overall ranking was  possible. However, we could identify genetic entries having a high V and  a relatively high wood density, showing potential for future forest  regeneration material.