Variation in Wood Properties and Growth in Some Clones of <i>Populus deltoides</i> Bartr. ex Marsh

doi:10.4236/ajps.2011.25076

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American Journal of Plant Sciences, 2011, 2, 644-649

doi:10.4236/ajps.2011.25076 Published Online November 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ajps)

Variation in Wood Properties and Growth in Some

Clones of Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh

P. K. Pande

Wood Anatomy Discipline, Botany Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India.

Email: [email protected]

Received October 27th, 2010; revised November 27th, 2010; accepted January 11th, 2011.

ABSTRACT

The present paper deals with within ramet radial, intra- and inter-clonal variations in the wood element’s dimensions

and specific gravity o f 10 clones of Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh. The growth parameters namely ramet height and

DBH were also considered for the study. Study material was collected from the 10 clones of Populus deltoids raised by

WIMCO Plantations Ltd. at Rudrapur (Udhamsingh Nagar), India. Three clones were parent viz. G48, S7C8 (female)

and G3 (male). Other clones represent hybrids of F1 generation. Inter- and intra-clon al variations were significant for

all the wood traits except vessel element length for intra-clonal variations. Within ramet variations due to radial loca-

tion were significant for fiber length and specific gravity with increasing trend from pith to periphery. Interaction of

clone*replication was also significant for all the wood traits. Variations were significant for the DBH for the clones.

Fiber length and sp ecific gravity was significantly higher in fema le while wall thickness and vessel element length was

in male clones (P < 0.01). Female parents (G48 and S7C8) showed higher fiber length and specific gravity than of the

male parent (G3) while vessel element diameter and wall thickness was higher in male parent (G3). Fiber length was

higher in offspring than the parent clones which may be the reflection of hybrid vigor for the trait. The clones of F1

offspring followed the similar patterns for the other wood traits as in the parent clones. Hierarchical cluster analysis

showed that W/A 39 (male) and W 39 (female) clones of F1 generation were highly divergent than of the other clones.

Keywords: Fiber Length, Specific Gravity, Vessel Elemen t Length Wall Thickness, Wood Variations

1. Introduction

Wood quality and growth are two important parameters

need to be analyzed for the utilization and development

of new clones. Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh is

grown under different forestry programs as clonal planta-

tions to ensure the genetic superiority for better growth

and superior wood quality.

The variability in wood anatomical characteristics has

profound influence on the properties of wood [1,2]. Fea-

tures of interest in this connection include cell size, pro-

portion and arrangements of different elements of se-

condary xylem and specific gravity. The general pattern

of variation in wood element dimensions is found not

only within a species but also observed within a tree by

many a worker [3-5].

Variations in the dimensions of wood elements and

specific gravity both within tree and among the clones

have co me un der clo se scr utiny in r ecen t year s. Th er e are

reports available on the variation in wood anatomical and

other properties in different clones of Populus elsewhere

[6-9].

Populus deltoides showed intra- and inter-clonal vari-

ability in wood traits [8-11]. So, the close scrutiny of

different clones is essential to understand the variability

trends for different wood traits in the species. The wood

elements dimensions and specific gravity are the impor-

tant parameters to be assesses in terms of their within

ramet, intra- and inter-clonal variability so that clones

having desired wood traits can be used for the develop-

ment of new clones. Hence, the present paper deals with

the, inter- and intra-clonal and within ramet radial varia-

tions in wood anatomical parameters and specific gravity

of 10 clones of Populus deltoides.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. The Experimental Site

Study site was located at Rudrapur (Udhamsing Nagar),

Uttarakhand, Ind ia. It is situated at around 28˚N latitude;

78˚E longitude and at the altitude of 200 m asl (Figure 1).

The annual rainfall was 1200 mm; of which 88% occurs

Variations in Wood Properties and Growth in Some Clones of Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh645

during June-August. The average maximum summer

temperature (April-June) was 36.7˚C and average mini-

mum temperature (December-February) was 7.5˚C (2005-

2006). The soil of th e site was sandy loam.

2.2. Planting Material

The growth parameters namely ramet height and DBH

were measured for each individual before the collection

of wood samples. Study material was collected from the

10 clones of Populus deltoids raised by WIMCO Planta-

tions Ltd. at Rudrapur (Udhamsingh Nagar), India. Three

clones were parent viz. G48, S7C8 (female) and G3

(male). Other clones represent hybrids of F1 generation.

The year of plantation was February, 2000 and the month

of collection of samples was October, 2007. The soil of

the plantation site was sandy loam. The clones were

raised in Randomized Block Design. The spacing of

clonal trial was 5 × 5 m. The details of clones are given

in Table 1.

2.3. Sampling

Wooden cores were extracted from three replicate ramets

Figure 1. Location map of the site.

Table 1. Wood (µm) and growth traits of Populus deltoides clones.

Clone Parents Generation Sex FL SD FDSDWT SD VL SD VD SD SG

DBH

(cm) Height

(m)

Kranti G48*G3 F1 F 1048.7 145.727.84.34.8 0.92560.2101.2104.4 19.8 0.333 24.016.5

S7C8 P P F 1140.0 161.025.74.34.50.92560.2125.7103.1 26.3 0.368 23.416.1

G48 P P F 1161.8 169.825.74.44.51.07552.5113.896.1 20.7 0.423 23.416.6

W. 39 G48*G3 F1 F 1229.3 131.325.32.43.90.42572.388.5106.7 18.6 0.420 31.821.5

Bahar G48*G3 F1 F 1190.0 161.124.8 3.4 3.90.70531.9107.896.3 18.6 0.419 26.2 18.3

Udai G48*G3 F1 M 1202.1 182.125.93.94.50.99539.3107.895.3 18.5 0.383 25.117.9

W. 22 G48*G3 F1 M 1136.3 133.726.23.24.30.89558.099.5109.5 19.1 0.367 28.519.6

G3 P P M 1048.2 201.128.15.45.01.36559.4142.3108.4 31.2 0.366 17.615.3

Cp82-5-1 S7C8*G3 F1 M 1049.0 160.223.34.34.21.11558.2115.6105.1 29.5 0.349 17.415.9

W-A/39 G48*G3 F1 M 1057.0 191.623.74.63.91.10597.8133.6 104.3 23.0 0.379 21.323.9

Note: FL = fiber length, FD = fiber diameter, WT = wall thickness, VL = vessel element length, VD = vessel element diameter, SG = specific gravity, SD =

standard deviation, DBH = Diameter at breast height.

Variations in Wood Properties and Growth in Some Clones of Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh

646

of each of the 10 clones at 3.17 m height from the base

from the north direction. Each core was divided into three

pith to periphery locations viz. inner, middle and outer. In

total 90 samples were considered for anatomical studies

viz. fiber length, fiber diameter, wall thickness, vessel

element length, vessel element diameter and specific

gravity. Standard laboratory methods were followed for

the preparation of macerations. Wooden cores were frag-

mented into small pieces and put into the test tube. The

material was macerated with 50% HNO3 and a pinch of

KClO3. The macerated wood elements were thoroughly

mixed and were spread on a glass slide and observations

were taken under compound microscope [12]. Measure-

ments for fiber length, fiber diameter, wall thickness,

vessel element length and vessel element diameter were

taken from the macerated wood. Twenty five unbroken

cells were sampled for the measurement of each parame-

ter [13]. Basic density of core samples was determined as

the ratio of oven dry weight vs. green volume. The green

volume was determined by water displacement method.

Specific gravity is the ratio of the density of the core

sample vs. density of water [12].

2.4. Statistical Analysis

The data so obtained were statistically analyzed using

SPSS 10. Multivariate analysis was done to test the with-

in ramet radial and intra- and inter-clonal variations. Hi-

erarchical cluster analysis was done with SPSS 10 for

wood anatomical properties and sp ecific grav ity and grow th

parameters together using “Squared Euclidean Distance”

method. The hierarchical grouping develops a relation-

ship between clones that are maximally similar for speci-

fied traits. Each of the clones is genetically different

from another. However, the extent of difference might be

varying to a certain degree. Thus, during clustering num-

ber of clones may vary from one to the total number of

clones used. To optimize the number of cluster, a cut of

line was derived on the dendrogram that was close to

1/5th of the value. Five numbers of clusters were deve-

loped based on the information.

3. Result and Discussion

Tables 1-5 show results obtained on the various aspects

of study.

The range for fiber length for different clone was

1048.2 (G3 ) - 1229 .3 µm (W -39); 23 .3 (Cp8 2-5-1) - 28.3

µm (G3) for fiber diameter; 3.9 (W-39) - 5.0 (G3) µm for

wall thickness; 531.9 (Bahar) - 597.8 (W/A 39) µm for

vessel element length; 96.1 (G48) - 109.5 (W 22) 109.5

for vessel element diameter and for 0.333 (Kranti) -

0.423 (G48) specific gravity. The average ramet height

(m) of the clone ranged from 15.3 (Cp82-5-1) - 23.9

(W/A 39) m while DBH (cm) ranged from 17.4 (Cp82-

5-1) - 28.5 cm (W 22 ) (Table 1).

Table 2 shows multivariate analysis of wood ana-

tomical variations of different clones of Populus del-

toides. Inter- and intra-clonal variations were significant

for all the wood traits except vessel element length for

intra-clonal variations. Within-ramet variations due to

radial location were significant for fiber length and spe-

cific gravity. Interaction of clone*replication was also

significant for all the wood traits. Variations were sig-

nificant for the DBH for the clones. Significant diffe-

rences in average specific gravity of different clones of

different species of Populus were reported [6,8]; in Tec-

tona grand is [14] and in Eucalyptus tereticornis Sm. [15,

16]. In contrary, non-significant radial and directional

variations in specific gravity and fiber length in different

clones of Dalbergia sissoo were reported by Pande and

Singh [17], however these variations were significant due

to height of the ramet. Significant inter-tree variation in

specific gravity of Dalbergia sissoo was reported by

Pande [18] and in Lucanea leucocephala by Pande et al.

[19]. Similarly, significant differences among the differ-

ent clones of different species in average fiber length

were reported by many a worker [6,8,9,15,17,20]. Inter-

clonal variation in vessel element dimensions in Dalber-

gia sissoo was reported by Pande and Singh [17]; in

Populus deltoides by Chauhan et al. [8] and in Tectona

grandis by Rao and Shashikala [21]. Significant intra-

clonal variations were reported by Gautam [10] in L-34

clone of Populus deltoids while within-ramet radial

variation was significant for specific gravity with the

increasing trend from pith to periphery and related to the

cambial age of the wood. The increasing trend from pith

to periphery for average fiber length and specific gravity

was also noticed in the present study. Within-ramet

non-significant radial variations for most of the wood

traits showed no impact of age on the dimensions of

wood elements and regulate mostly homogeneous wood

properties within the ramet. Intra-clonal significant vari-

ations indicated that differential wood properties might

be expected from the population of the same clone.

Fiber length and specific gravity was significantly

higher in female while wall thickness and vessel element

length was in male clones (P < 0.01). Female parents

(G48 and S7C8) showed higher fiber length and specific

gravity than of th e male parent (G3) while vessel diame-

ter and wall thickness was higher in male parent (G3).

Fiber length was higher in offspring than the parent

clones which might be the reflection of hybrid vigor for

this trait. The clones of F1 offspring and parents fol-

lowed the similar pattern for the other wood traits (Table

3).

Hierarchical cluster analysis was done using “Squared

Euclidean Distance” for all the 10 clones considering all

Variations in Wood Properties and Growth in Some Clones of Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh647

Table 2. ANOVA for wood traits of different clones of Populus deltoids.

Mean Sum of Square (MSS)

Source of variation df FL FD WT VL VD SG

Clone 9 44747.4** 43.6** 1.87** 4046.8** 311.2** 9.198E–03**

Replication 2 72296.5* 22.9** 0.661** 2442.8 517.4* 5.814E–03**

Location 2 21675.3** 3.03 0.103 2337.8 203.3* 3.568E–03*

Clone*Replication 18 26082.0** 13.45** 0.76** 2575.5** 239.04** 4.926E–03**

Error 58 4265.5 3.08 0.116 1032.6 65.0 1.263E–03

Table 3. Mean wood traits as per the sex.

Std. Error

Dependent Variable Sex Mean (µm) 95% Confidence IntervalLower Bound Upper Bound

FL Female 1148.9 16.6 1115.76 1182.1

Male 1103.4 16.6 1070.23 1136.6

FD Female 25.4 0.41 24.60 26.2

Male 25.8 0.41 25.02 26.7

WT Female 4.2 0.09 4.03 4.4

Male 4.5 0.09 4.32 4.7

VL Female 548.1 5.56 537.02 5

Male 562.378 5.562 551.289 573.466

VD Female 100.511 1.573 97.376 103.647

Male 101.222 1.573 98.087 104.358

SG* Female 0.392 0.007 0.378 0.406

Male 0.367 0.007 0.353 0.381

Note: * = No unit. Table 4. Constitution of different clusters.

Cluster Number No. of clones in the cluster Clone number and sex

1 3 G3 (Male), Cp82-5-1 (Male), Kranti (Female)

2 1 W-A/39 (Male)

3 3 S7C8 (Female), W 22 (Female), G 48 (Female)

4 2 Bahar (Female), Udai (male)

5 1 W 39 (male)

Table 5. Mean value of wood element’s dimensions (µm) and specific gravity.

Parameters/Cluster Number FL FD WT VL VD SG DBH (cm) Height (m)

1 1048.6 26.37 4.67 559.27 105.97 0.349 19.67 15.9

2 1057.0 23.7 3.9 597.8 104.3 0.379 21.3 23.9

3 1146.03 25.87 4.43 556.8 102.9 0.386 25.1 17.43

4 1196.05 25.35 4.2 536.6 95.8 0.401 26.8 18.1

5 1229.0 25.3 3.9 572.3 106.7 0.420 31.8 21.5

Variations in Wood Properties and Growth in Some Clones of Populus deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh

648

Figure 2. Dendrogram using acerage linkage (between the groups) for the different clones cl of Populus deltoids.

the wood and growth traits. Dendrogram was prepared

using Average Linkage (between groups). In the study,

10 clones were grouped into 5 clusters at 5 rescaled dis-

tance cluster combine (Figure 2). The constituents of

different clusters were given in Table 4. Cluster 1 and 3

were the largest clusters having 3 clones in each whereas

cluster numbers 2 and 5 have only one clone each. Clus-

ter 5 was the highly divergent from other clusters having

the clone W39.

The mean values of different wood traits for different

clusters are given in Table 5. Cluster 5 showed highest

values for wood traits viz. fiber length, vessel element

diameter and specific gravity and growth parameter viz.

DBH while fiber diameter and specific gravity were

higher in cluster 1. Ramet height was higher in cluster 2.

Lower values were represented by cluster 2 for fiber di-

mensions while vessel dimensions by cluster 4. Lower

specific gravity was shown by cluster 1. Lower growth

traits were represented by cluster 1 (Table 5).

Genetic divergence is most effective tool to identify

the parents for hybridization [22]. Selection for both fe-

male and male parents from two divergent clusters is

important to develop hybrids for new clones. Clusters 2

and 5 were the divergent clusters for male and female

parents respectively. Cluster 2 has one male clone i.e.

W/A 39 which was highly divergent from the clones

clustered in cluster 1 at 4 rescaled distance cluster com-

bine. In the same way, cluster 5 has the female clone W

39 which was divergent from other clones at 5 rescaled

distance cluster combine. Since, clones in cluster 2 and 5

were highly divergent from other clones so used in num-

ber of combinations as parents to develop new hybrids.

These clones can be used for establishing clonal seed

orchard for immediate gain in view of their high diver-

gent nature

Though, clonal strategy is alleged to offer narrow ge-

netic base yet vegetative propagation has strongly rec-

ommended [23-25]. Populus deltoides is propagated

through clones. So development/selection of new clones

in view of their desired wood properties is of utmost im-

portance for the products. In this study, the highly diver-

gent male clone (W/A 39) and female clone (W39) are

important and should be used in number of combinations

for developing new hybrids of desired wood traits to de-

velop new clones.

4. Acknowledgements

I Acknowledge to the Director, Forest Research Institute,

Dehradun (India) for providing necessary facilities dur-

ing the work and Dr. R. C. Dhiman, WIMCO Seedlings

Ltd. Rudrapur, India for providing the material. Author is

also thankful to Mr. G. S. Bisht, Research Assistant,

Wood anatomy Discipline, Forest Research Institute,

Dehradun (India) for laboratory-assistance and Mr. J. N.

Gandhi of WIMCO Seedlings Ltd. Rudrapur (India) for

field assistance.

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