Selection of Superior Clones of Two Genetic Groups of Gmelina arborea in the Costa Rican Southern Pacific Region

Abstract

Gmelina arborea has become a very significant choice to guarantee the supply of raw material for the forest industry, mainly by its rapid rate of growth, high productivity, easy settlement, wide range of tolerance to conditions of site and excellent capacity of regrowth. This research was aimed to select clones that recorded superior performance on melina production for a site class I and other class III (Finca Puntarenas and Finca La Amapola, respectively), from two genetic groups (Northern area and Southern area). The selection criterion was based on the following variables: trade volume, quality and trade volume of quality, through the determination of profit or loss percentage rate on the performance of each clone compared to the population mean. For sites class I clones 11 and 22 of the Northern area and 17 and 12 from Southern area were selected to continue with breeding programs; in addition to the previous, clone 16 in the Northern area and 16, 13, 7, 23 and 21 in Southern area were selected for commercial reforestation projects. For sites class III clone 5 from the Northern area was identified to continue in the breeding programs; also clones 5, 16 and from Northern area and 17, 20, 19 and 21 of Southern area were identified for commercial reforestation projects. The remaining clones of both backgrounds should be removed from the production process and stored in germplasm banks for future objectives.

Keywords

• Gmelina arborea
• clones selection
• trade-quality volume