GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION IN A POPULATION OF PINUS-ELLIOTTII ENGELM. VAR ELLIOTTII

Five methods were used to investigate the importance of genotype-envir onment interaction in a progeny trial of Pinus elliottii ENGELM. estab lished on 3 sites in Zimbabwe. Although statistically significant for many traits at 5, 8 and 15 years, genotype-environment interaction was judged by a number of criteria to be of little practical importance. Heritabilities were lowest at the site at which environmental conditio ns were nearest to optimum for the species; individual-tree phenotypic selection was more efficient at the 2 off-site plantings where herita bilities were higher The lack of important genotype-environment intera ction in this population of P. elliottii has implications for testing and deployment strategies.