PARENT SESSION
Tuesday, August 8, 5:00-6:30 pm
Poster Session 10 - Genetics, evolution, and paleoecology
Exhibit Hall, Ballroom Level, Cook Convention Center

An 18 year common garden study of coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens).

Sosinski, Stephanie^*,1, Douhovnikoff, Vladimir¹, ¹ Simmons College, Boston, MA, United States

ABSTRACT- In 1988 the Kuser International Redwood Trial was launched. Thousands of redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens) stecklings where planted in common gardens in California, France, New Zealand, South Carolina, England, Spain and South Africa. Replicate plantings of trees included over 175 cloned original genotypes (genetic individuals) from 82 locations from the entire natural range of coast redwood. Each representative genotype was vegetatively propagated to produce genetically identical copies, which allowed the same individual to be simultaneously tested in within site replications and on other sites. Over eighteen years this study has accumulated data on characteristics such as size, branch architecture, bole form, ramicorn branching, forking, epicormic shoots, cone development, pest resistance, and survival of each genetic individual under various growing conditions. However, it has been almost ten years since this data was last compiled and published. Some of these common gardens are now threatened with removal which has called for a quick response and collection of the vast amounts of biological information they contain. Our goal has been to measure and bring together the 18 years of growth characteristics, survival rates, and disease resistance data as well as DNA samples from the replicated common gardens. Genetic tests are providing foolproof identification of individuals, an understanding of genetic variability, and clues about the genetic architecture of provenance populations. Preliminary data suggest regional variation in genetic diversity.

Key words: Sequoia sempervirens, common garden, genetics