143
temperature. Thus, the strategy of stocking seeds during mast years, as recommended
for N. alpina and N. obliqua, does not apply in this case, at least till a specific
stocking protocol can be adjusted for this species. With viable seeds, very good
seedlings (more than 35 cm tall and 0.5 mm of collar diameter) can be produced in
8 months by means of ferti-irrigation under greenhouse conditions (Schinelli
Casares 2012; Fig. 5.7).
Although the species has been planted profusely on a very low scale, even in
Great Britain (Mason et al. 2018), Denmark, and Norway (Sondergaard 1997), forest plantations with N. pumilio (as with N. antarctica) are scarce. Just in the last
decade, the species has been planted on a larger scale in the frame of active restoration programs related to extensive forest fires that occurred in Chile and Argentina.
Good examples of these efforts are the restoration programs performed in Torres del
Paine National Park (Chile) and in the Argentine provinces of Río Negro, Chubut,
Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego, where hundreds of thousands of lenga seedlings
have been planted (Pastorino et al. 2018; Guzmán et al. 2019; Mattenet et al. 2019;
Mestre et al. 2019; Paredes et al. 2019; Salinas et al. 2019). However, the vast
majority of those seedlings were not produced in nurseries but collected from the
regeneration banks of the natural forests. In any case, these experiences have
boosted interest in the breeding of the species at both sides of the Andes Cordillera.
In Chile, a trial was installed in 2000 in the Forest Reserve of Coyhaique (Ipinza
and Gutierrez 2015) with the open-pollinated progeny of 111 mother trees sampled
in the natural forest of three provenance regions (N = 2466). Plus and not selected
trees were included in the sample. The average survival of the trial was 58.5% at
11 years of age, with 2.14 m of mean height and 21.8 mm of mean collar diameter.
The heritability of these two last traits was h
2
= 0.18 and h
2
= 0.27, respectively. It
is remarkable that among the 20 better mothers, there was not any plus tree, and
among the 50 better trees, there was not any progeny of the plus trees. This result
leads to discard the strategy of selecting trees from the natural forest. Instead, the
mass selection from planted trees, where the method of comparison with neighbor
individuals is applied (Ledig 1974), or better yet, the genetic selection in progeny
tests seems recommendable.
In Argentina, the first steps toward the genetic improvement of the species have
been taken recently. A small provenance trial network has started to be established
in 2017. Seeds were collected from 12 natural stands of the whole distribution area
of N. pumilio in Argentina, from south of Tierra del Fuego to north of the Province
of Neuquén. Seedlings were produced and four provenance trials were installed in
(1) Río Turbio (Punta Gruesa Forest Reserve, 51° 32′ 44.7″S, 72° 07′ 22.2″W;
535 m asl; N = 675; first year survival = 92%), (2) Trevelin Forest Station of INTA
(43° 05′ 29″S, 71° 32′ 21″W; 450 m asl; N = 900; first year survival = 97%), (3)
Bariloche alto (private property, 41°13′38.86″S, 71°14′32.85″W; 1060 m asl;
N = 480; second year survival = 51%), and (4) Bariloche Experimental Station of
INTA (41° 7′ 21.17″ S, 71°14′ 56.95″ W; 795 m asl; N = 270; second year
survival = 80%).
Finally, aiming to count with seeds of known origin for seedling production, in
2017, a production seed area was registered with the National Seed Institute
5 Nothofagus pumilio and N. antarctica: The Most Widely Distributed…
temperature. Thus, the strategy of stocking seeds during mast years, as recommended
for N. alpina and N. obliqua, does not apply in this case, at least till a specific
stocking protocol can be adjusted for this species. With viable seeds, very good
seedlings (more than 35 cm tall and 0.5 mm of collar diameter) can be produced in
8 months by means of ferti-irrigation under greenhouse conditions (Schinelli
Casares 2012; Fig. 5.7).
Although the species has been planted profusely on a very low scale, even in
Great Britain (Mason et al. 2018), Denmark, and Norway (Sondergaard 1997), forest plantations with N. pumilio (as with N. antarctica) are scarce. Just in the last
decade, the species has been planted on a larger scale in the frame of active restoration programs related to extensive forest fires that occurred in Chile and Argentina.
Good examples of these efforts are the restoration programs performed in Torres del
Paine National Park (Chile) and in the Argentine provinces of Río Negro, Chubut,
Santa Cruz, and Tierra del Fuego, where hundreds of thousands of lenga seedlings
have been planted (Pastorino et al. 2018; Guzmán et al. 2019; Mattenet et al. 2019;
Mestre et al. 2019; Paredes et al. 2019; Salinas et al. 2019). However, the vast
majority of those seedlings were not produced in nurseries but collected from the
regeneration banks of the natural forests. In any case, these experiences have
boosted interest in the breeding of the species at both sides of the Andes Cordillera.
In Chile, a trial was installed in 2000 in the Forest Reserve of Coyhaique (Ipinza
and Gutierrez 2015) with the open-pollinated progeny of 111 mother trees sampled
in the natural forest of three provenance regions (N = 2466). Plus and not selected
trees were included in the sample. The average survival of the trial was 58.5% at
11 years of age, with 2.14 m of mean height and 21.8 mm of mean collar diameter.
The heritability of these two last traits was h
2
= 0.18 and h
2
= 0.27, respectively. It
is remarkable that among the 20 better mothers, there was not any plus tree, and
among the 50 better trees, there was not any progeny of the plus trees. This result
leads to discard the strategy of selecting trees from the natural forest. Instead, the
mass selection from planted trees, where the method of comparison with neighbor
individuals is applied (Ledig 1974), or better yet, the genetic selection in progeny
tests seems recommendable.
In Argentina, the first steps toward the genetic improvement of the species have
been taken recently. A small provenance trial network has started to be established
in 2017. Seeds were collected from 12 natural stands of the whole distribution area
of N. pumilio in Argentina, from south of Tierra del Fuego to north of the Province
of Neuquén. Seedlings were produced and four provenance trials were installed in
(1) Río Turbio (Punta Gruesa Forest Reserve, 51° 32′ 44.7″S, 72° 07′ 22.2″W;
535 m asl; N = 675; first year survival = 92%), (2) Trevelin Forest Station of INTA
(43° 05′ 29″S, 71° 32′ 21″W; 450 m asl; N = 900; first year survival = 97%), (3)
Bariloche alto (private property, 41°13′38.86″S, 71°14′32.85″W; 1060 m asl;
N = 480; second year survival = 51%), and (4) Bariloche Experimental Station of
INTA (41° 7′ 21.17″ S, 71°14′ 56.95″ W; 795 m asl; N = 270; second year
survival = 80%).
Finally, aiming to count with seeds of known origin for seedling production, in
2017, a production seed area was registered with the National Seed Institute
5 Nothofagus pumilio and N. antarctica: The Most Widely Distributed…