Ponderosa Pine Family Growth Comparisons in the Central Great Plains of Kansas

Wayne A. Geye, Keith D. Lynch

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DOI: 10.4236/ojf.2011.12004                

Abstract

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Laws.) has been planted widely in the Great Plains. Recommendations based on a 1968 study were to use material from south central South Dakota and north central Nebraska. A second test to further delineate seed sources (provenance/families) in this region was established in 1986. This paper reports results for survival, height, diameter, and D2H measurements in Kansas at 15 years. Results identify a wide range of suitable families within the Great Plains region.A majority of the tested sources performed well especially those from central Nebraska. Those sources from eastern Montana and western Nebraska performed poorly where environmental or geographic conditions were the poorest, thus verifying the original recommendations.

Keywords

Ponderosa Pine, Pinus Ponderosa, Provenance, Seed Sources, Tree Selection, Growth Characteristics.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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