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In nature, radiata pine is very localised and an obscure tree species despite the romantic character of much of its natural habitat. That obscure status and the lack of any reputation as a virgin timber slowed its due recognition as a commercial crop. Nevertheless, it has become a major plantation forest crop internationally. It has become the pre-eminent commercial forest species in New Zealand, Chile and Australia, with important plantings in some other countries. It consequently features prominently in the international trade in forest products, in addition to its importance in domestic markets of grower countries. Very fast growth, considerable site tolerances, ease of raising in nurseries and transplanting, and ease of processing and using its wood for a range of products and purposes, have made it the utility softwood of choice almost everywhere it can be grown satisfactorily. Abundant genetic variation and its amenability to other management inputs created special opportunities for its domestication.

The story of its domestication forms a classic case history in the development of modern commercial forestry, with trailblazing in both genetic improvement and plantation management; this inevitably meant a learning process that provided instructive lessons, especially for tree breeders dealing with some other species. Paradoxically, the plantation monocultures have played and can continue to play an important role in protecting natural forests and other forms of biodiversity. Given the attractions of growing radiata pine, there were inevitably cases of overreach in planting it, with lessons to be learnt. Economic globalisation has meant globalisation of pests and disease organisms, and the scale on which radiata pine is grown has meant is has been the focus of various biotic alarms, none of which have proved catastrophic. Temptations, remain, however, to pay less than due attention to some aspects of risk management.

The chapter structure of the book is based on historical periods, beginning long before any important human influences, and ending with a look into what the future might hold for the species and its role in human and ecological sustainability. Almost throughout, there has been complex interplay between the technical aspects, local social and economic factors, various types of institution, the enthusiasm and drive of some very influential individuals, and tides of economic ideology, threads that needed to be woven together to do the story justice.

Domestication of Radiata Pine

Preface.- Acknowledgements.- I. Introduction.- 1.1. Processes of domestication.- 1.2. The radiata pine story.- 1.2.1. Historical preview.- 1.2.2. Land races.- 1.2.3. The Development of plantation management.- 1.2.4. The step to intensive breeding.- 1.2.5. The political and institutional context for technical progress.- 1.2.6. The current radiata resource.- II. Early History: 7,000,000 Years Ago to 1901 C.E.- 2.1. Five small native forests.- 2.1.1. Mainland populations.- 2.1.1.1. Extent.- 2.1.1.2. Associate tree species and soils.- 2.1.2. Island populations.- 2.1.3. Paleohistory and taxonomy.- 2.3.1.1. Fossils and evolution.- 2.3.1.2. The naming of radiata pine.- 2.1.4. Native American impacts.- 2.1.5. Spanish, Mexican and Californian impacts.- 2.2. Early institutional and political factors in plantation forestry.- 2.2.1. Australia.- 2.2.2. New Zealand.- 2.2.2.1. Canterbury.- 2.2.2.2. The Wellington Botanic Garden.- 2.2.3. South Africa.- 2.2.4. Chile.- 2.3. Early plantings.- 2.3.1. European seed collections and plantings.- 2.3.2. Australia.- 2.3.3. New Zealand.- 2.3.3.1. Canterbury.- 2.3.3.2. Auckland.- 2.3.3.3. Elsewhere in New Zealand.- 2.3.4. South Africa.- 2.3.5. Chile.- 2.3.6. Spain and Portugal.- 2.3.7. The British Isles.- 2.3.8. Other countries.- 2.4. Summary of domestication progress.- III. The Early Plantation Period: 1901-1951.- 3.1. Why large plantation programs?.- 3.1.1. Australia.- 3.1.2. New Zealand.- 3.1.3. Elsewhere.- 3.2. The evolution of institutions that supported plantation development.- 3.2.1. Australia.- 3.2.1.1. South Australia.- 3.2.1.2. Victoria.- 3.2.1.3. New South Wales.- 3.2.1.4. Other States: Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.- 3.2.2. New Zealand.- 3.2.2.1. The State Forest Service.- 3.2.2.2. Other public agencies.- 3.2.2.3. Private enterprise.- 3.2.2.4. Research and Development.- 3.2.3. Chile.- 3.3.4. South Africa.- 3.2.5. Spain.- 3.3. The choice of radiata pine.- 3.3.1. Australia: Ecological fit and commercial acceptance.- 3.3.1.1. South-eastern Australia.- 3.3.1.2. The edge: Queensland and Western Australia.- 3.3.2. New Zealand.- 3.3.3. South Africa.- 3.3.4. Chile.- 3.3.5. Spain.- 3.3.6. East and south-central Africa.- 3.3.7. Ecuador.- 3.3.8. Elsewhere.- 3.4. The development of plantation management.- 3.4.1. Nursery and planting practice.- 3.4.2. Soils and nutrition.- 3.4.3. Genetics of radiata pine.- 3.4.3.1. Early historical influences.- 3.4.3.2. The beginnings of purposeful intervention.- 3.4.4. Silviculture.- 3.5. Some alarms.- 3.6. Summary of domestication progress.- IV. The Beginnings of Genetic Improvement: 1951 to 1968.- 4.1. General Context.- 4.1.1. Australia.- 4.1.2. New Zealand.- 4.1.3. Chile.- 4.1.4. South Africa.- 4.1.5. Elsewhere.- 4.2. Introductory remarks on breeding.- 4.3. Theory.- 4.3.1. Some basic principles.- 4.3.2. Concepts and principles of quantitative genetics and breeding.- 4.4. The Scandinavian school of tree breeding.- 4.5. Institutional settings.- 4.5.1. USA.- 4.5.2. Australia.- 4.5.3. New Zealand.- 4.5.4. South Africa.- 4.6. Interim genetic improvement measures.- 4.7. Intensive breeding.- 4.7.1. Background.- 4.7.2. Traits chosen for early-generation selection.- 4.7.3. Regionalisation?.- 4.7.4. Clonal archives.- 4.7.5. Seed orchards.- 4.7.6. Genetic trials and mating designs in breeding programme.- 4.8. Vegetative propagation.- 4.9. Other studies.- 4.10. Programme reviews.- 4.11. Summary of domestication progress.- V. Development of the Management Concept While Tree Improvement shifts gears: 1969 to 1983.- 5.1. Introduction.- 5.2. Where which species will perform well.- 5.3. Institutional developments.- 5.3.1. Australia.- 5.3.2. New Zealand.- 5.3.3. South Africa.- 5.3.4. Chile.- 5.4. The context of intensified management practices.- 5.4.1. Introduction.- 5.4.2. Crop establishment.- 5.4.2.1. Seed collection.- 5.4.2.2. Natural regeneration.- 5.4.2.3. Direct seeding.- 5.4.2.4. Nursery behaviour and transplanting.- 5.4.2.5. Site preparation and weed control.- 5.4.2.6. Spacing.- 5.4.3. Use of fertilisers.- 5.4.4. Thinning and pruning regimes.- 5.4.4.1. Some problems with commercial thinning.- 5.4.4.2. Some lessons from South Africa.- 5.4.4.3. Towards radical changes in New Zealand.- 5.4.4.4. Practice in other countries.- 5.4.4.5. Longer-term follow-up.- 5.4.4.6. Tending regimes in perspective.- 5.5. Genetic improvement.- 5.5.1. Operational breeding activities.- 5.5.1.1. Australia.- 5.5.1.2. New Zealand.- 5.5.1.3. Chile.- 5.5.1.4. South Africa.- 5.5.2. Structuring and reshaping of breeding programmes.- 5.5.3. Tree breeding strategy and quantitative methodology.- 5.5.4. Quantitative genetic architecture.- 5.5.4.1. Population comparisons and action taken.- 5.5.4.2. Within-population variation.- 5.5.5. Breeding- and seed-orchard technology.- 5.5.6. Mass propagation by vegetative means.- 5.5.7. Demonstrating and quantifying genetic gains.- 5.6. Summary of domestication progress.- VI. Towards More Precise Genetic Control: 1984-1997.- 6.1. Introduction.- 6.2. Institutions.- 6.2.1. History and usefulness of cooperatives.- 6.2.2. Institutional changes in individual countries.- 6.2.2.1. Australia.- 6.2.2.2. New Zealand.- 6.2.2.3. Chile.- 6.2.2.4. Other countries.- 6.3. Developments in planting and silviculture.- 6.3.1. Planting activity.- 6.3.2. Silviculture.- 6.3.2.1. Overview.- 6.3.2.2. Some rethinking on the 'radical' regimes.- 6.4. Activities and progress in operational genetic improvement.- 6.4.1. Orchard developments.- 6.4.2. Breeding work.- 6.4.2.1. Australia.- 6.4.2.2. New Zealand.- 6.4.2.3. Chile.- 6.4.2.4. Other countries.- 6.5. Delivery of improved seed.- 6.6. Demonstration of economic payoffs from breeding.- 6.6.1. Field performance.- 6.6.2. Impacts on growing costs.- 6.6.3. Impacts on financial returns.- 6.6.4. Certification of improved genetic material.- 6.6.4.1. New Zealand.- 6.6.4.2. Australia.- 6.7. Increased knowledge of genetic architecture.- 6.7.1. Variation among the natural populations.- 6.7.1.1. New Zealand.- 6.7.1.2. Australia.- 6.7.1.3. Other countries trialling the 1978 native-stand seed collections.- 6.7.2. Within-population variation and inheritance.- 6.7.2.1. Non-additive inheritance of individual traits.- 6.7.2.2. Age-age correlations.- 6.7.2.3. Genotype x environment interaction.- 6.7.2.4. Additional wood properties beyond density.- 6.7.2.5. Inheritance of basic wood properties.- 6.7.2.6. Relationships between basic wood properties and processing- and product-performance properties.- 6.7.2.7. Direct inheritance of processing- and product-performance properties.- 6.8. Propagation options increase.- 6.8.1. The evolution and decline of seed orchards.- 6.8.2. Vegetative propagation and its objectives.- 6.8.2.1. Vegetative multiplication of young seedlings.- 6.8.2.2. In-vitro culture systems.- 6.9. Clonal forestry beckons again.- 6.10. Evolution of breeding goals.- 6.10.1. Shifts in emphasis on various traits.- 6.10.2. Breed and multiclonal variety specialisation.- 6.11. Deployment options multiply.- 6.12. Developments in breeding strategy and population management.- 6.12.1. Implementation of sublining.- 6.12.2. Developments in breed differentiation and stratifying breeding populations.- 6.12.3. Coping with increased population complexity.- 6.12.4. Cloned breeding populations?.- 6.13. The molecular revolution develops momentum.- 6.13.1. Background.- 6.13.2. The search for individual genes and their desired alleles.- 6.13.3. The pursuit of molecular-based genetic engineering.- 6.14. Summary of domestication progress.- 6.15. References.- VII. A Wild Ride: 1998 Onwards.- 7.1. Introduction.- 7.2. Institutional developments.- 7.2.1. Forest ownership and activity.- 7.2.2. R & D Organisations.- 7.2.3. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs).- 7.3. Forestry activity and problems.- 7.3.1. New planting and retirements.- 7.3.2. Developments in forest growing practices.- 7.3.3. New decision-aid software and remote-sensing technology.- 7.3.4. Harvesting and log segregation.- 7.3.5. Biotic alarms.- 7.3.6. Weeds and related issues.- 7.3.7. The advent of 'carbon forestry'?.- 7.4. Operational breeding and deployment activities.- 7.4.1. Australia.- 7.4.2. New Zealand.- 7.4.3. Chile.- 7.4.4. South Africa.- 7.4.5. Spain.- 7.5. Demonstration and marketing of genetic gain.- 7.5.1. Gain.- 7.5.1.1. Individual-tree performance.- 7.5.1.2. Crop-level gains.- 7.5.2. Certification and assurance.- 7.5.2.1. New Zealand.- 7.5.2.2. Australia.- 7.5.3. Economic returns.- 7.6. Advances in knowledge of genetic architecture.- 7.6.1. Variation among natural populations.- 7.6.2. Within-population variation and inheritance.- 7.6.2.1. Wood properties.- 7.6.2.2. Uncomfortable trade-offs.- 7.6.2.3. Other aspects.- 7.6.3. Genotype-environment interaction.- 7.6.4. Performance of species hybrids.- 7.7. Evolution and differentiation of breeding goals.- 7.7.1. The blitz on wood properties.- 7.7.2. Disease and pest resistance.- 7.7.3. Specialisation or not, and deployment.- 7.8. Strategy and management of total genetic resources.- 7.8.1. Native-population resources (CONSERVE).- 7.8.2. Structuring of breeding population.- 7.8.2.1. Australia.- 7.8.2.2. New Zealand.- 7.8.2.3. Chile.- 7.9. Advances and problems in propagation technology.- 7.9.1. Vegetative propagation.- 7.9.1.1. Advances.- 7.9.1.2. Some stumbles.- 7.9.2. Seed production and novel hybridisation.- 7.10. Where to for clonal forestry?.- 7.11. Gene technology.- 7.11.1. Genomic research.- 7.11.1.1. Comparative genomics.- 7.11.1.2. DNA fingerprinting and clonal verification.- 7.11.1.3. Pedigree reconstruction.- 7.11.1.4. Search for DNA markers for selection.- 7.11.1.5. Gene expression studies and 'gene discovery'.- 7.11.1.6. Some convergence with other plant breeding.- 7.11.2. Genetic engineering.- 7.11.2.1. Target traits.- 7.11.2.2. Associated research.- 7.11.2.3. Regulatory context.- 7.12. Summary of domestication progress.- VIII. In Retrospect.- 8.1. Amenability of radiata to domestication.- 8.2. Different drivers of planting in different countries.- 8.3. Commercial forestry as a business model.- 8.4. Role of radiata in development of plantation forestry.- 8.4.1. Forest management systems.- 8.4.1.2. Establishment practices and nursery systems.- 8.4.1.2. Use of fertilisers.- 8.4.1.3. The trending regime conundrum.- 8.4.1.4. Modelling growth and outturns.- 8.4.1.5. Scope for ongoing refinements.- 8.4.2. Genetic improvement.- 8.4.2.1. The needs and opportunities.- 8.4.2.2. Breeding of radiata.- 8.4.2.3. The evolving role of radiata breeding.- 8.4.2.4. Towards advanced delivery systems for genetic gain.- 8.4.2.5. Roles of modern biotechnology.- 8.5. Pursuit of clonal forestry.- 8.6. The wood-quality issue.- 8.7. Influence of political structures.- 8.8. Forest ownership and institutional structures.- 8.9. Significance for economic and environmental sustainability.- IX. The Future.- 9.1. Introduction.- 9.2. Domestication Gaps and their Implications.- 9.2.1. The state of the genetic system.- 9.2.2. Reproductive biology.- 9.2.3. Physical architecture.- 9.2.4. Overview.- 9.3. Main issues and drivers of the future.- 9.3.1. What will the species be grown for?.- 9.3.2. Where will the species be grown?.- 9.3.2.1. Classes of land - availability and suitability.- 9.3.2.2. Climate change and biotic developments.- 9.3.2.3. Competing species for plantation-forestry roles.- 9.3.2.4. Prospective shifts in distribution.- 9.3.3. How will the species be grown?.- 9.3.4. Genetic improvement issues.- 9.3.4.1. Evolution of breeding objectives.- 9.3.4.2. Assay technologies.- 9.3.4.3. Classical data analysis.- 9.3.4.4. Use of gene technologies.- 9.3.4.5. DNA sequencing and bioinformatic advances.- 9.3.4.6. Role of genetic engineering.- 9.3.4.7. Delivery systems for genetic gain.- 9.3.4.8. Optimising field deployment.- 9.3.4.9. Strategic genetic management.- 9.3.5. Institutional and political changes and challenges.- 9.3.5.1. Forest ownership.- 9.3.5.2. R & D Institutions.- 9.3.5.3. Impacts of new technology.- 9.3.5.4. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs).- 9.4. The clonal forestry goal.- 9.5. Concluding.- References.- Glossary.- List of Abbreviations.- List of Species Names (common versus Latin).