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5.7 Clonal Forestry
Authors: C T Sorensson, C J A ShelbournePublication: , Volume Section 5 – Plantation silviculture, pp 7, Dec 2023
Abstract: Clonal forestry, that is planting forests with trees of selected, tested clones, is now technically feasible for radiata pine and is being increasingly adopted in New Zealand. Plants of a clone are exact genetic replicas of an individual derived from a seedling or immature seed that is vegetatively multiplied. Commercial clones are selected after field testing large numbers of such clones. Clones can also be propagated from selected mature trees by grafting their buds onto a seedling rootstock and planting them in a clonal seed orchard. Such grafted clones are selected for orchards after thorough testing of their offspring in replicated progeny tests. These clones are used only to produce improved seed, since they are usually severely aged and grow more slowly than the juvenile propagules used in clonal forests. There are two key features of clonal forestry: the use of selected and tested clones, and the relative uniformity amongst individual trees of a clone.