Evaluation of the tree-improvement delivery system: factors affecting genetic potential

Possible causes of the genetic erosion that occurs during the fragmented phases of the tree-improvement delivery system are reviewed. The impacts of intentional and unintentional directional selection during phenotypic selection, seed production (with its associated reproductive-phenology asynchrony, fecundity differential and varying propensity to inbreeding), seed processing and storage, and seedling production are evaluated. In general, genetic diversity and heterozygosity parameters of seed orchards are higher or similar to those observed in their natural-population counterparts. However, parental contribution to the resultant seed orchard seed crops is consistently asymmetrical, and this is a major cause of genetic erosion. In most cases, less than 20% of an orchard's clones contribute 80% of the cone crop, thus reducing the effective population size. Because seed germination of coniferous tree species is under strong maternal genetic control, the combined effects of differences in reproductive output and germination, as well as of management practices (e.g., simulated long-term storage of seed showed that loss of viability during storage is genotype specific), cause unintentional directional selection during seedling production. This review confirms the need for genetic monitoring of each phase of the tree-improvement delivery system, so that practical solutions can be developed to alleviate genetic erosion.