Genetic value of the Silesian Beskid populations of Norway spruce Picea abies (L.) Karst. in the IUFRO 1972 provenance experiment

The paper presents the results of research concerning the genetic variation in the growth traits and phenotypic plasticity of Norway spruce populations from the Silesian Beskid Mts and compares them with those of twenty Polish spruce provenances planted on thirty plots established in Europe and Canada in the IUFRO 1972 provenance experiment. The Silesian Beskid spruce is represented by six populations from the Wisła and Ujsoły Forest Districts. The variation in the growth traits of all populations discussed (data from all plots) is 6.009 standard deviation units. At population level this variation is also comparatively high and ranges between 4.674 for the Kartuzy spruce and 2.1920 for the Rycerka Zwardoń spruce. The Silesian Beskid spruce populations are not homogeneous but they belong to the populations with a high or moderate growth rate. The Istebna Bukowiec spruce performed the best on most plots. Only on Finnish and Canadian plots the growth traits of this population were below the average.