Integrating revenues from carbon sequestration into economic breeding objectives for Eucalyptus globulus pulpwood production

A system where carbon sequestration was directly dependent upon biomass production in a plantation was modelled to assess whether economic breeding objectives for the genetic improvement of Eucalyptus globulus were sensitive to potential revenues from carbon sequestration. Carbon dioxide equivalent accumulation in the biomass (CO2e) of the Australian E. globulus plantation estate established between 2004 and 2012 was estimated. Total carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) accumulation was in the order of 146 t CO2e ha-1, of which 62 t CO2e ha-1 were tradable in 2012 (the 1st Kyoto Protocol commitment period) and a further 30 t CO2e ha-1 were tradable in 2016 (a hypothetical second Kyoto protocol commitment period). The correlated response of breeding objectives with and without carbon revenues ( never fell below 0.86 in sensitivity analysis, and the mean was 0.93. Where economic breeding objectives for the genetic improvement of Eucalyptus globulus for pulpwood plantations are based on maximizing net present value by increasing biomass production, the consideration of carbon revenues in economic breeding objectives will have no significant effect on the relative economic weights of the key economic traits, wood basic density and standing volume at harvest

TREEPLAN A genetic evaluation system for forest tree improvement

TREEPLAN® is a genetic evaluation system for forest tree improvement. The system is designed specifically for the efficient and accurate prediction of genetic values of trees for breeding and deployment purposes. TREEPLAN® uses best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP). BLUP has important statistical advantages over the more traditional methods used in tree breeding as BLUP allows for the comparison of individuals across space and time, regardless of the environment in which the trees are grown. Although BLUP methods are well developed theoretically, software currently available is suitable only for breeding value estimation and prediction on ‘small’ and/or ‘well structured’ (balanced) data sets. Packages such as ASREML (Gilmour et al. 1999) and SAS/STATS (1991) have hardware and software limitations that make them unsuitable for the routine prediction of breeding values on very large data sets. The Southern Tree Breeding Association (STBA) implements breeding programs in Australasia for Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus globulus. A feature of these programs is a ‘rolling front’ strategy with overlapping generations. Without suitable BLUP software it is difficult to combine information across locations, years and generations, particularly where the pedigree is complex. A lack of suitable BLUP software may have acted as an impediment to genetic progress in many tree improvement programs internationally. The STBA and the Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU) have developed TREEPLAN® as an ‘industrial strength’ system for breeding value prediction using technologies developed and routinely used in animal breeding and livestock improvement

Carbon revenues and economic breeding objectives in Eucalyptus globulus pulpwood plantations

This paper investigates the integration of carbon revenues into production system models used to define economic breeding objectives for the genetic improvement of Eucalyptus globulus pulp-wood plantations. A model was used to estimate that carbon dioxide equivalent accumulation in biomass in the Australian Eucalyptus globulus plantation estate established between 2004 and 2012 was in the order of ~146 t CO₂e ha⁻¹, of which 62 t CO₂e ha⁻¹ were tradable in 2012 and a further 30 t CO₂e ha⁻¹ were tradable in 2016. By considering a system where revenues for carbon sequestration are directly dependant upon biomass production in a plantation, it was possible to determine whether economic breeding objectives for the genetic improvement of E. globulus will be sensitive to the revenue from carbon sequestration. The correlated response of breeding objectives with and without carbon ( ΔcGH₁ ) never fell below 0.86 in sensitivity analysis, and the mean was 0.93. As such, where economic breeding objectives for the genetic improvement of Eucalyptus globulus for pulpwood plantations are based on maximizing NPV by increasing biomass production, the consideration of carbon in economic breeding objectives will provide no significant gains in NPV