| Salix eriocephala, a shrub willow native to the northeastern United States, is a species with little known basic genetics information. While biomass is harvested on three-year cycles, certain traits are considered to be useful in the early prediction of biomass. The heritability of stem height, stem number, the sum of stem diameters, and Melampsora incidence was calculated in 34 F1 S. eriocephala full-sib families. These traits had low to moderate heritability, which will allow for moderate gains from selection. Another consideration in a breeding program is the extent to which inbreeding depression is tolerated. Stem height, biomass, sylleptic branching, stem number, and sum of stem diameters were measured in a second-generation S. eriocephala field study, which contained crosses of full-sib F1 clones, half-sib F 1 clones, and unrelated F1 clones. Stem height, number of leaves, sylleptic branching, Melampsora incidence, stem diameter, and biomass were measured in a second-generation S. eriocephala greenhouse study, which contained crosses of full-sib F1 clones and unrelated F1 clones. The overall conclusion of the second-generation studies was that inbreeding in early generations of S. eriocephala had little to no negative impact on family growth performance. |
