Larysa Prysiazhniuk’s scientific contributions

Productive Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands in the Baltic region ensure high-quality sawlogs for the timber market and contribute to carbon sequestration. Spike knots are serious stem defects, which reduce the proportion of valuable timber; therefore, the extent of genetic control of their occurrence and relationship with other traits must be assessed for the potential to reduce negative impact via tree breeding. We aimed to evaluate the family effect on the presence of spike knots and its relation to growth traits in open-pollinated Scots pine progenies. A higher incidence of spike knots was associated with better height growth and the presence of lammas shoots. The family had a statistically significant effect on growth and spike knots, yet a mainly weak genotypic correlation was observed between both traits (rG = − 0.25 … 0.40). The family mean heritability of the spike knots was moderate (hf² = 0.42 … 0.46), opposite to very low (h² = 0.02… 0.05) single tree heritability. Although the presence of lammas shoots was low and was not affected by genetics, it showed a strong positive genotypic relationship with the formation of spike knots in the next growing season (rG = 0.80). The potential to select fast growing families with a low probability of spike knots was indicated, but a more comprehensive analysis is necessary to determine the extent of the genetic relationship between this stem defect and lammas shoots.