• Bihun, Yurly M.
  University of Maine Graduate School
  

A range wide provenance study of black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) was established on two locations in Maine in 1976. The northern or Telos plantation had 100 provenances and the central or Dover plantation had 115 provenances from throughout the natural range of black spruce in United States and Canada. The experimental design consisted of a randomized complete block with four-tree row plots replicated nine times. height and root collar diameter were measured in 1981 and height from the previous two years was estimated from internodal distances. Phenological observations were made on four replications at the Dover plantation in the spring of 1981. Frequency of white pine weevil (Pissodes strobi Peck) damage was observed on both sites. Significant differences 1m height and diameter were found among replications and provenances at the Telos and Dover Plantations. Total height and survival was negatively correlated with latitude of seed origin. Date of terminal budbreak was also negatively correlated with latitude of seed origin in the Dover plantation. Frequency of weevil damage was highly visible at the Telos site and was negatively correlated with latitude. Overall, mean height and survival were higher on the Telos plantation. In general, provenances from the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada had the greatest growth and survival. Provenances from this region exceeded height growth of provenances of local origin. The high correlation between height growth in 1981 and height growth for the previous growing seasons indicates potential for selection of provenances with rapid juvenile growth.