Species and provenance introductions in Cuba: research results and projections[11] (A. Mercadet et al)

by

Alicia Mercadet, J.R. Marquetti, A. Alvarez, M. Pérez, P. Echevarria, Esperanza Hidalgo, Osiris Ortiz, E. Rodríguez, P. Romeu, B. Avila, Denia Parada, L. Yero, P. Sotolongo, E. Martinez, H. Maresma, A. González, Orlidia Hechavarria, A. Hernández and Lizeyda Paredes[12].

INTRODUCTION

Obtaining productive, well-adapted forests to promote sustainable, more profitable forest plantations implies a careful selection of species and provenances, especially where good wood quality and high yields are a target.

Botanical enthusiasts in Cuba first introduced forest species in the nineteenth century, notably Casuarina equisetifolia in 1830 and Eucalyptus species in 1867 (Betancourt, A. 1987). Silviculturalists then launched a more production-oriented and organized series of introductions in 1929, establishing observation plots and small production lots in the province of Pinar del Río with 54 Eucalyptus species from Australia (Fors, A., 1957). They later moved on to establish arboreta in Itabo (Matanzas) and Camaguey, as well as plots with various species in Tope de Collantes (Sancti Spiritus) and other areas of the country.

In 1971 the Centro de Investigación y Capacitación Forestales (now the Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales) launched a programme of species and provenance introductions to increase wood production. A summary of this programme was presented in Forest Genetic Resouces No. 27 (1999) (see Alvarez, 1999). More details are provided below.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The working methods adopted conform to Burley and Wood (1979), mostly fully randomized experimental designs in the species trials, and completely randomized blocks for the provenance trials. The Eucalyptus seeds were supplied by CSIRO (Australia), the Gmelina arborea and Tectona grandis seeds by DANIDA and the pine and broadleaf seeds for dry zones by the Oxford Forest Institute of England.

RESULTS

A) Species trials.

Species trials were run on 72 genera in 31 environments (Table 1). All environments showed a positive response for at least some of the species tested. The results of the best-adapted species are found in Mercadet et al, 1990 and 1995.

Table No. 1: Taxonomic composition of the material evaluated and best-adapted species.

Genus	No. of species	Best-adapted species
Eucalyptus	64	E. pellita, E. alba, E. terticornis, E. brassii, E. grandis, E. citriodora, E. maculata, E. resinifera, E. saligna, E. torrelliana, E. botryoides, E. deglupta, E. deanei, E. camaldulensis, E. globulus and E. urophylla
Pinus	25	P. caribaea var. caribaea, P. caribaea var. hondurensis and P. caribaea var. bahamensis
Terminalia	13	T. arjuna and T. paniculata
Casuarina	10	C. glauca, C. cunninghamiana, C. junghuhniana, C. equisetifolia and C. fraseriana
Albizzia	8	A. procera
Acacia	7	A. mangium and A. auriculiformis
Pterocarpus and Swietenia	5	P. indicus and S. macrophylla
Leucaena	4	L. leucocephala
Caesalpinea, Cordia, Cupresus, Khaya, Lysiloma, Melia, Pithecellobium and Zanthoxyllum	2	Melia azadirachta
Aleurites, Alvaradoa, Anacardium, Andira, Apoplanesia, Ateleia, Barixylum, Bauhinia, Borsistum, Bursera, Calophyllum, Calycophyllum, Carapa, Cassia, Cedrela, Colubrina, Couropita, Dalbergia, Enterolobium, Crescentia, Cunninghamia, Fraxinus, Genipa, Gliricidia, Gmelina, Grevillea, Guaiacum, Guazuma, Haematoxylum, Hebestigma, Hibiscus, Hura, Hymenea, Juniperus, Largestroemia, Luchea, Mastichodendron, Melaleuca, Milletia, Mimosa, Mycrosperma, Ochroma, Paraserianthes, Parkinsonia, Picodendron, Pouteria, Prosopis, Samanea, Schizolobium, Senna, Simaruba, Spatodea, Tamarindus, Tectona, Toona and Trichilia	1	Cedrela odorata, Enterolobium cyclocarpum, Grevillea robusta, Gliricidia sepium, Paraserianthes falcataria, Prosopis juliflora and Tectona grandis

b) Provenance trials.

Table 2 summarizes the results from 13 species of the 16 tested in 13 environments.

Table No 2: Results of provenance trials for 13 species

Province	Location	Species and recommended provenance
Pinar del Río	Santa Bárbara	Pinus caribaea: Marbajita, Cuba Pinus tropicalis: Galalón, Cuba
	Bartolo	Pinus caribaea: Marbajita, Cuba Pinus tropicalis: Bartolo, Cuba
	Viñales	Pinus tropicalis: Viñales
	Sierra del Rosario	Gmelina arborea: Khao Yai, Thailand; Camaguey and Tope de Collantes, Cuba
Matanzas	Itabo	Tectona grandis: Ranchuelo, Cienfuegos, Cuba Acacia mangium: Oriomo River, Rex Range, Trinity Inlet, Abergourie; Australia Cordia gerascanthus: El Corojito and San Diego, Cuba
	Alameda	Melaleuca leucadendron: Alameda, Itabo, Motembo, Ciénaga de Zapata, Tope de Collantes and Camaguey, Cuba
Sancti Spíritus	Tope de Collantes	Pinus caribaea: Marbajita, Cuba Eucalyptus saligna: Tope de Collantes, Cuba Pinus caribaea var. hondurensis: Guanajas, Poptum, Alamicamba and Santa Clara, Honduras and Nicaragua
Villa Clara	Motembo	Pinus caribaea: Marbajita, Cuba
Camagüey	San Felipe	Pinus caribaea: Marbajita, Cuba
Holguín	Meseta de Mayarí	Pinus cubensis: Pinalito, Cuba
Granma	Central Sierra Maestra	Eucalyptus saligna: Macurije, Cuba Pinus maestrensis: Limoncito, La Francia, El Hueso Cuba
	Northern foothills of the Central Sierra Maestra l	Cordia gerascanthus: El Francisco and Rio Guarabo, Cuba Hibiscus elatus: Loma del Gato and Dos Ríos, Cuba Swietenia macrophylla: Las Tunas and Central América Libre, Stgo. de Cuba, Cuba
Guantánamo	Cagüeybaje	Pinus cubensis: Palma Clara, Cuba

Figure 1: Location of experiments by soil and climate zones. Stars indicate the sites of species trials and boxes the sites of provenance trials (see Table No 2 for results).

CONCLUSIONS AND PROJECTIONS

The species and provenances reported as promising proved to be potentially widely adaptable, surviving and growing in different soil types, even the poorest, and deserve consideration for reforestation plans.

The most ecologically flexible genera in the species introduction trials were: Eucalyptus, Pinus, Casuarina, Acacia and Terminalia. Of these the best-performing were: Pinus caribaea var. caribaea, Eucalyptus pellita, Eucalyptus grandis, Eucalyptus maculata, Eucalyptus tereticornis, Eucalyptus resinifera, Eucalyptus camaldulensis and Eucalyptus brassii.

Further research should focus on:

Provenance studies on the best-adapted species in the species elimination trials: Eucalyptus citriodora, E. camaldulensis, E. grandis, E. tereticornis, Pareserianthes falcataria, Prosopis juliflora, Acacia mangium, Acacia auriculiformis and Melaleuca leucadendron.

Replication of provenance trials in other locations with some species now under study: Casuarina equisetifolia, Swietenia macrophylla, Casuarina junghuhniana, Eucalyptus pellita, Tectona grandis, Gmelina arborea and Cordia gerascanthus.

Launching new species introductions for wood production, but only for environments for which there has been no response with tested species, painstakingly evaluating the introduction of certain exceptionally productive species which therefore deserve to be tested.

Launching species introduction trials for other Ministry of Agriculture Programme priority objectives, first evaluating existing species.

Combining the new species introduction trials with provenance trials and the new provenance trials with progeny trials, as a means of saving time, work and money.

Alvarez, A. 1999. Forest genetics in Cuba. Progress in the 20th Century and Challenges in the 21st Century. Forest Genetic Resources No. 27, pp. 16-25. FAO, Rome.

Burley, J. and P.J. Wood, 1979. Manual sobre investigaciones de especies y procedencias con referencia especial a los trópicos. Oxford University, Oxford, 297 pp.

Betancourt, A.1987. Silvicultura especial de Arboles Maderables Tropicales. Editorial Científico Técnica. Havana, Cuba. p78-79, 128-130.

Fors, A.1957. El eucalipto en la economía del agricultor. Agrotecnia. Havana, Cuba. Nov-Dec. p 34-38.

Mac Dicken, K.G; Wolf, G.V.; Briscoe, C.B., 1991. Standard Research Methods for Multipurpose Trees and Shrubs. Winrock International Institute for Agricultural Development. USA.

Mercadet, A. et al. 1990. Final report of Stage 509-03-01. (unpublished). Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales, Cuba.

Mercadet, A. et al. 1995. Final report of Stage 004.36-03. (unpublished). Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales,Cuba.