Does Pollen ‘Neighborhood’ Affect Berry Yield In Lowbush Blueberry (Vaccinium Angustifolium Ait)?

Figures & data

FIGURE 1 Physical map of Blueberry Hill (top) and Columbia (bottom), showing the locations of the eight pollen neighborhoods and the precise locations of the five clones comprising each neighborhood and the central focal recipients. Neighborhood areas, as measured by the area internal to a linear perimeter connecting the five donors, ranged from 30.2–110.7 m² with a mean area of 69.7 m². Scale insets are also shown. The designations H1, H2, L1, and L2 indicate relative natural yield potential under open pollination conditions (fruit set)—H for high, L for low. Blueberry Hill and Columbia are approximately 12.5 km apart (color figure available online).

TABLE 1 4 × 4 Grids of Pollen Recipient (Rows) and Mixed Sire (Columns) Neighborhoods Showing Yield Results as Mean Berry Weight per Pollination (Top), and Mean Band Differences between the Five Surrounding Donors and the Focal Pollen Recipient (Bottom) for Both Blueberry Hill and Columbia [H1, H2, L1, and L2 Designate the Two High and Two Low Producing Clones (Recipients; n = 8) as Measured by Open Pollination Fruit Set for 2005 and 2007]

Blueberry Hill					Columbia
Yield
Neighborhood	♂H1	♂H2	♂L1	♂L2	Neighborhood	♂H1	♂H2	♂L1	♂L2
♀H1	0.49	0.48	0.43	0.44	♀H1	0.23	0.32	0.27	0.33
♀H2	0.14	0.20	0.26	0.22	♀H2	0.25	0.24	0.23	0.37
♀L1	0.32	0.17	0.22	0.15	♀L1	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.01
♀L2	0.23	0.17	0.26	0.03 ^z	♀L2	0.45	0.32	0.45	0.14 ^y
Mean band differences
Neighborhood	♂H1	♂H2	♂L1	♂L2	Neighborhood	♂H1	♂H2	♂L1	♂L2
♀H1	10.4	11.8	12.8	12.0	♀H1	12.4	9.2	11.0	9.4
♀H2	10.0	11.4	12.4	10.8	♀H2	11.8	11.4	11.2	10.2
♀L1	10.2	13.6	11.6	9.0	♀L1	13.4	9.4	8.4	11.0
♀L2	11.0	11.6	13.8	12.6	♀L2	10.2	12.6	14.0	9.8
Note. Mean berry weight per pollination is calculated as proportion fruit set times mean weight of berries harvested for that cross. Mean band differences are the average of all the band differences for all five surrounding donors to the focal pollen recipient.
^zIndicates statistical significance at the 10% level.
^yIndicates statistical significance at the 5% level.