Investigation of adaptive variation of black spruce in 29-year height growth of Black Spruce in a northwestern Ontario provenance trial

Abstract

Seed sources from across northwestern Ontario were used to establish a black spruce provenance trial at the former Thunder Bay Forest Nursery located on 25th Sideroad, Thunder Bay. The heights of these trees were measured at 29 years old. The mean population heights were examined for patterns of variation between provenances based on the mean annual temperature of the seed source. Provenance survival percentage was also calculated. The differences in mean provenance height and provenance survival percentage were not statistically significant. The results of my study do not support the hypothesis that height was influenced by the MAT of the seed source location, as no significant differences in provenance mean height were detected. It is possible that the lack of ability to detect significant differences among provenances results from errors in height measurement, as a previous study of the same test found significant differences in height.