PROVENANCE - SITE INTERACTION IN <em>PINUS</em> <em>CARIBAEA</em> AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR GENETIC IMPROVEMENT AND AFFORESTATION PROGRAMMES IN THE NIGERIAN SAVANNA

Abstract

Provenance x site interaction was estimated for tree height and girth at breast height of 12-y-old Pinus caribaea grown at three Nigerian savanna sites, namely Afaka, Nimbia and Miango. The provenances examined were Mt. Pine Ridge (Belize), commercial lot (Belize), New Providence (Bahamas), Great Abaco (Bahamas) and Pinar del Rio (West of Cuba). There was no significant provenance x site interaction in any of the two growth characteristics examined. The provenances maintained their relative performance at the three sites, with the two Belize sources emerging as the most suited.There were highly significant between-site differences in tree height of the Pinus caribaea provenances grown while no such differences existed for their girth growth. The fastest growth was measured at Miango while the slowest at Afaka. Both tree height and girth growth of the Pinus caribaea provenances examined had high provenance heritability. This shows that the expression of the characteristics was not mediated differentially by the three test environments.