Conclusion

The modified rapid screening test for growth strain captured population variability in Eucalyptus bosistoana which is under genetic control. Narrow sense heritability of growth-strain was estimated to be 0.63, with a 0.28–0.98 95% credible interval. This suggests that a breeding programme could effectively reduce growth-strain in the population.
Heritabilities for wood density, stem diameter, volumetric shrinkage, acoustic velocity and wood stiffness are also presented. All of them are within the range described in previous publications. A strong, unfavourable correlation between growth strain and stiffness indicates that tree selection will have to deal with a trade-off between those traits when breeding for overall wood quality in E. bosistoana .
This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of implementing rapid growth-strain screening at a speed and reliability that would scale up to an operational breeding programme.