Advantages of clonal forestry for Pinus radiata} 415

The advantages of using tested clones in Pinus radiata D. Don forests were compared with current open-pollinated and control-pollinated seed orchard strategies. Clonal forestry shares with control-pollinated orchard strategies advantages of shorter plant production times, control of pedigree, flexibility of deployment, multiplication of valuable crosses, and efficient capture of additive genetic gains. It may have additional advantages in increasing uniformity, allowing clone/site matching, controlling growth habit, and capturing non-additive genetic gains. However, a control-pollinated orchard strategy coupled with vegetative multiplication is currently proving to be more cost-efficient in establishing managed stands. Use of a clonal strategy requires evidence for greater economic gains