Decoupling of height growth and drought or pest resistance tradeoffs is revealed through multiple common-garden experiments of lodgepole pine

Across the four progeny test sites, we chose a total of 1,490 trees for phenotyping. Height growth (m) was measured at age 35-yr with a clinometer.

Carbon isotope ratio (δ13C, in ‰) analysis was performed at Alberta Innovates in Victoria, using outside slabs cut and ground from the 5 mm increment cores taken from the north side of each tree at approximately breast height (1.3 m) at age 35. Samples were analyzed using an established method on a MAT253 Mass Spectrometer with Conflo IV interface and a Fisons NA1500 EA. We assessed the severity of WGR infection in the test sites by a qualitative scoring system with discrete categories ranging from no gall symptoms to deceased (four tiers) for all trees sampled at age 36-yr.