Information about the natural variability within and between trees, clones and wood species are of crucial important in genetics and tree improvement. The radial variation and variability tells at what age it is possible to decide what plant material to select with reasonable probability. It also provides a background to judge if a new material is better than what already exist in nature.
In the Popwood project, a large number of aspen and hybrid aspen trees with different growth rates from existing tree improvement experiments were analysed for a large number of properties. The accuracy of the measurement methods will also influence at what age selection can happen. The improvements achieved during the Popwood project were estimated to reduce this age with nearly 50%.
Knowledge on this variability is also important in the development of strategies for industrial use of wood resources.
Radial variation in fibre length for seven types of hybrid Aspen of different origin.