Evaluation of Provenances of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Clones of E. camaldulensis and E. tereticornis at Contrasting Sites in Southern India

A total of 188 open-pollinated families of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. from 18 Australian natural provenances and 15 selected Indian families of the “Mysore Gum” land race were evaluated in three provenance- family trials at contrasting sites in southern India. At two years of age, the fastest growth was recorded at the driest site in Tamil Nadu, where E. camaldulensis provenances from Queensland were superior to those from Northern Territory and Western Australia, and the Indian land race. Provenance differences were less pronounced at the two higher-rainfall sites in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Interaction of provenance performance with site was significant. Within- provenance individual-tree heritabilities for height and diameter at breast height (dbh) were low at the three individual sites, ranging from 0.08 ± 0.05 to 0.19 ± 0.05 for height and 0.10 ± 0.05 to 0.19 ± 0.04 for dbh. Across-site heritabilities, 0.07 ± 0.02 for both height and dbh, were lower than those at individual sites. Phenotypically superior trees were selected from these trials and seven other plantings of E. camaldulensis and Eucalyptus tereticornis Smith in southern India and cloned from basal coppice. A total of 78 E. camaldulensis and 27 E. tereticornis selections, together with thirteen commercially planted Eucalyptus clones and five superior natural provenance seedlots, were tested in clonal trials at three sites in southern India, the different individual treatments being tested at from one to three sites. Three years after planting, most clones selected from E. camaldulensis trials and the commercial Eucalyptus clones were superior in volume production to E. tereticornis clones and seedling controls at a dry site in Tamil Nadu. A smaller number of clones, particularly those of E. camaldulensis, were also superior to seedling controls at an intermediate-rainfall site in Andhra Pradesh. At a third high-rainfall site in Kerala, seedling controls were superior to all but four of 46 clones tested. Significant clone-by-site interaction was observed for growth traits. At the dry site in Tamil Nadu, clones varied widely in their wood basic density from 450 to 700 kg m^-3, and there was no significant correlation of clonal values for growth and wood density. The results confirm that clones are best selected and tested in environments similar to those where they will be deployed.