1100 trees have been harvested for study as a part of the trial

What might be the largest study of plantation timber qualities in the world may result in the best seed families of blackbutt in the ground within a year.

The study, with both national and international involvement, is examining the qualities of blackbutt timber in Buttsworths’ plantation near Kendall on the mid north coast of New South Wales.

“This has taken three years to bring together,” said Forests NSW tree improvement manager, Michael Henson.

“It involves three sites in NSW and two in Queensland which were planted with ‘plus’ trees selected in the field by Forests NSW then tree breeder, Ian Johnson.

“These were assessed for growth and form at the age of three years, and the best individuals across the five sites were selected, grafted, and included in clonal seed orchards, one south of Coffs Harbour and one at the Grafton Forest Technology Centre.

“The Buttsworths trial consists of six replications of just over 300 families, with four trees planted for each family in each replicate.”

From this total of 7500 trees, all of which have been measured in the field for growth, form, density and branching, a further sub-set of families was selected for more study.

“It is these trees that are in the current trial, so we have 1100 trees that will be divided up for study between a commercial sawing study in Tasmania, Southern Cross University in Lismore and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa,” Michael said.

“Three sets of trees from the study will be assessed in Australia and South Africa.

“A private enterprise partner in the trial, Forest Enterprises Australia, will undertake a commercial sawing of 570 trees with a hew saw in northern Tasmania. This will establish structural and stability traits in a commercial environment.

“Other trees from the same families will go to Southern Cross University for detailed wood property assessment and samples will be sent to South Africa for wood chemistry assessment.

“The third study at Southern Cross University will include one tree from every family to determine the molecular genetics controlling wood properties in the hope of screening trees for wood properties in the nursery.

“These will try to explain wood qualities important to milling and drying, including structural properties such as density and stiffness as well as stability traits such as shrinkage and growth strain,” he said.

Michael said this was easily the most comprehensive study of wood properties in the world to this time.

Major additional funding of $157,000 for the project has been provided by the Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation.

Other partners in the study include the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, a federal authority which provided $750,000 in funding which includes this project; the Co-operative Research Centre for Forestry, an Australian national research consortium with headquarters in Hobart; Ensis, a joint-venture between Australia’s CSIRO and New Zealand’s Scion; Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries; the Chinese Eucalyptus Research Centre; the Forests Science Institute of Vietnam; and the Hunnan Forest Science Bureau.

“The study should be complete by May 2007 but we will have enough information to begin culling the worst of the trees in the clonal orchards by the end of the year,” Michael said.

This article appears in the Spring 2006 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.