Ponderosa pine tree breeding program

Over the last 20 years, genetic studies in BC for ponderosa pine have been limited to some smaller provenance-based experiments. However, because ponderosa pine dominates the hot and dry ecosystems in British Columbia, which are anticipated to expand as the climate warms, a larger program has been recently initiated.

The older provenance trials were established with populations of trees from BC and the northern United States. This test series was used to select the best trees from the best populations to create a seed orchard for the southern interior. This set of seed orchard selections, plus another approximately 470 parent trees selected across BC and the northern US, will be tested over the next few years across a wide range of climates, including regions where ponderosa pine is expected to expand.