Maintenance of genetic diversity in Eucalyptus urophylla S. T. Blake populations with restriction of the number of trees per family

Abstract

Our aim was to verify the effect on gain and genetic diversity through the restriction of the number of trees per family in selection, in order to compose an elite population of Eucalyptus urophylla in two trials under distinct management levels. We studied 166 open-pollinated families of E. urophylla in Anhembi, Sao Paulo State, Brazil under commercial practices, and the same families in Selviria, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil under lower management level (mainly no mineral fertilization). Mortality, height and diameter at breast height (DBH) were measured. DBH was analyzed by the REML/BLUP to select the best 25 trees, with four levels of tree restriction per family (no restriction; 1; 2 and 3 per family). We evaluated heritability; genetic gain and effective size of number of total and private alleles; observed and expected heterozygosity; coancestry and fixation index. A large difference in survival (48 and 83 %) and productivity (MAI of 26 and 44 m(3)ha(-1)y(-1)) was observed between trials due to the different levels of management applied. The highest restriction in number of individuals per family caused a small decrease in gain, corresponding to 7 % in the more productive trial and 3 % in the less productive one. Observed and expected heterozygosity, coancestry and fixation index were not significantly (lower than 5 %) affected by the restriction in both sites. The restriction of one tree per family allowed different alleles to be kept in the selected population and higher effective population size in order to insure variation for the next generations.