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Foxtailing of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis in peninsular Malaysia : frequency, growth rate and specific gravity

University of British Columbia

Foxtailing is a common feature in the plantations of Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis Barrett and Golfari in Peninsular Malaysia. Frequency of foxtailing in Kemasul and Ulu Sedeli pine plantations, aged between 1 to 8 years, was found to vary between 4.3 to 36.0 percent. Ulu Sedeli plantation has 5.3 percent more foxtail than in Kemasul plantation. This study indicates that the occurrence of foxtailing varies with site and age. The most common form of foxtailing is the sub-terminal foxtail which constitutes about 60.0 percent of the foxtail population. The increasing proportion of sub-terminal to terminal foxtail with age of the trees suggests that foxtailing is a plastic trait. Average total height of foxtailed trees was greater than normal trees at all ages, however, larger diameters were evident only during the juvenile stage. The specific gravity of foxtailed trees was found to be slightly less dense than that of normal trees though the difference was not significant. Although breeding of true terminal foxtail trees may hold some promise of economic gains, the inherent limitations and foreseen problems render such proposition to be not feasible. Selection against foxtailing will continue to be a more practicable approach. Some future research studies on foxtailing are proposed: juvenile-mature correlation studies, long term growth and wood quality studies.

Text

2010-05-08

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/24517

Forestry

University of British Columbia

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