Early results from genetic trials on the growth of Spanish cedar and its susceptibility to the shoot borer moth in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Genetic variation for growth, morphological, and physiological traits in a wild population of the Neotropical shade­tolerant rainforest tree Sextonia rubra (Mez) van der Werff (Lauraceae)

“…This is confirmed by the present study, showing little or no heritability for leaf morphological traits and LMA. Most-likely heritability values fall within the range reported in literature (Callister and Collins 2008;Carnegie et al 2004;Costa e Silva et al 2005;Hodge et al 2002;Navarro et al 2004;Sotelo Montes et al 2007;Ward et al 2008). Growth-related traits, generally speaking, were found to display higher heritability values, often associated with small estimates of genetic and residual coefficients of variation (with the exception of total aboveground biomass).…”

“…On the other hand, forest management can only rely upon juvenile traits to provide guidelines for the selection of germplasm in afforestation programmes. Much effort is therefore devoted to the estimation of genetic parameters and of their stability in juvenile forest tree populations (for recently published examples, see Bundock et al (2008), Callister and Collins (2008), Ward et al (2008), Sotelo Montes et al (2007), Wightman et al (2007), and references therein). Assessment of the amount and distribution of quantitative genetic diversity is therefore an important goal both for ecological studies and for forest management.…”

IntercroppingCedrela odoratawith Shrubby Crop Species to Reduce Infestation withHypsipyla grandellaand Improve the Quality of Timber

“…Factors contributing to improved growth performance might include competition for light, in the case of height increment, along with additional positive effects of crops, such as the shading out of competing grasses, reduction of soil compaction by their roots, improved nutrient input from their foliage, and the nitrogen-�xing ability of C. cajan. It is known that taller trees with multiple shoots are affected less by shoot borers [12,55]. Inducing rapid early growth by intercropping can therefore be an effective silvicultural measure to help reduce damages by H. grandella.…”

“…For example, much effort has been spent on the development of viable insecticides [11], pestresistant planting stock [6,12,13], and on the introduction of parasitoids, predators, or viruses [14]. Yet, up to now, none of these methods have proved effective in preventing damage [14].…”

Performance and genetic variation of big-leaf mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) in provenance and progeny trials in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico

“…Other authors have reported provenance differences in big-leaf mahogany, but in samples spanning the Mesoamerican region, not solely from Mexico (Geary et al, 1973;Newton et al, 1999;Ward and Lugo, 2003;Navarro and Hernández, 2004). More differentiation was found among provenances of C. odorata from the Yucatan; these provenances may have arrived earlier in the peninsula and had more time to differentiate than those of big-leaf mahogany (Ward et al, 2008).…”