Search

Timor Mountain Gum (Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake) is an important eucalypts species for pulp and chip wood production in Thailand because of its rapid growth and suitability for hybridization. The 16 year-old provenance trials compared 19 natural seed sources in four blocks replication from the islands of Timor, Flores, Alor, Lomblen, Wetar, and Pantar. Seeds were collected from selected plus trees of the provenance trials to establish F1 progeny test which comprise of 80 half-sib families in 12 blocks replication. In both experiments there were significant differences of growth performances and morphological characteristics among seed sources. A lowland provenance from Mt. Lewotobi, Flores indicated best growth in both the provenance trials and progeny test. The experiments implied that individuals from the island of Timor and Flores were the best performing. Therefore, these should be considered in the next selection process for breeding strategy to optimize plantation productivity. Keywords: Eucalyptus urophylla, Provenance, Progeny, Variation, 1. Introduction Eucalypts contribute substantially to Thailand's 3.09 million ha (FAO, 2007) of forest plantations for the production of wood fuel, sawn wood, poles, and pulp for paper and paperboard. [...]