UC/NZDFI’s durable eucalypt research programme Dr Clemens Altaner School of Forestry, University of Canterbury 12/5/2015 – Blenheim

Requirements for success A market Valuable products; competitively priced; environmentally friendly; sustainable Interested growers / wood processors / end-users Trees that grow Fast; straight; disease, drought, frost resistant… Growth and yield models / siting A good product Consistent properties; natural durability, low growth strain; high heartwood percentage; no collapse; high stiffness…

Growing durable eucalypts Euan Mason / Justin Morgenroth / Serajis Salekin (PhD) Species choice and siting More important than for radiata Silvicultural management Forest establishment practices Stocking management Rotation length Coppice Growth & yield projection

Disease resistance Tara Murray / Huimin Lin (PhD) Insect herbivores Continue to arrive from Australia All present in NZDFI sites, occasional severe outbreaks possible

Insect herbivores Tolerance – management Tolerance – species selection Eucalypts can naturally cope with insect herbivores How much productivity / time do we loose due to different levels of defoliation When is it economic to manage insects herbivores – i.e. when do we spray? Tolerance – species selection Field assessment of natural variation in levels of defoliation sustained by genetically distinct species and families

Tree breeding Large gains can be achieved by improving genetics; i.e. selecting superior trees Common in agriculture - Less common in forestry - UNCOMMON for wood properties Corn Avocado Banana

Successful breeding requires Luis Apiolaza Economic importance Variability Typical high Genetic control Typical high for wood quality traits Being able to assess many individuals (10,000s) The more individuals are assessed the more likely it is to find an exceptional individual The effort (sample size) increases exponentially with the number of targeted traits Need for quick and cheap wood quality assessments!

Traits Tree growth Product quality Growth Form Frost resistance Disease resistance Drought resistance … Product quality Heartwood quantity Natural durability Growth strain Collapse Stiffness …

Wood quality Clemens Altaner, Nick Davies (PhD), Jackley Li (PhD), Gayatri Mishra (PhD) Only the heartwood is naturally durable and has colour Variation of heartwood in 4-yr E. bosistoana: 0-75 (mean 13) (D%) Needs to be considered in growth modelling Need for sapwood market Quick assessment with methyl bromide staining (pH indicator)

Natural durability Difficult to measure directly Primarily caused by extractives Variation of ethanol solubles in 4-yr E. bosistoana: 1.4-15.0 (mean 8.6) (wt%)

NIR spectroscopy Measurements within seconds Solid samples (no sample preparation) Direct measure of chemical composition

Heartwood assessments Require a core sample of trees with heartwood Coring not trivial Fast – many trees High density – large forces Small trees – small hole / core Close to ground – frame Older trees: 5+ years Delayed selection Earlier assessment possible? Development of new coring tool with Callaghan Innovation

Growth-strain Restricting large scale use of plantation grown eucalypts for solid timber (to chips for pulp) Needs to be removed when going beyond posts and poles LVL Sawn timber NZFFA

Growth-strain variability E. bosistoana age 2 Difference between families → Heritable Growth strain can be cured by breeding

Growth-strain assessment Split length (L) Opening (Y0) Small end Large end Growth-strain ε ε = Y * R / (0.87 * L2) Assessment takes 1-2 minutes → large numbers can be screened → early screening at age 1-2

Woodville trial February 2015 ~200 families E. bosistoana E. argophloia ~50 replicates →11,000+ trees Assessed at age 1-2 for: Growth strain Stiffness Collapse Early growth Early form Scale only manageable and affordable by early selection!

Thank you