Twenty-fivenewclonesbelongtoPopulusAigeirosofbothdomesticandforeignoriginhadbeenintroducedandtestedatnurserystageinShandongprovince.Resultsshowedthatheight(H),diameteratstembase(DO)andsurvivalrate(SR)variedsignificantlyandgeneticvariationwereverylargeamongtheclones.CVgandbroad-senseheritability(h^2)ofH,DOandSRof1-year-oldstocknurserywere7.43%,9.25%,18.78%and78.91%,96.31%,95.93%,respectively,showinghighgeneticcontrolonthetestedtraits.11superiorcloneswithcharacteristicsofhighgrowthrateandmediumorhighSRwereprimarilyselectedandgeneticgains(△G)ofH,DOandSRwere16.89%,16.08%and13.08%,respectively.Rootinghabitstestofsomeselectedcloneswerealsoconductedbasedonthecuttingcultureinwatercontainerandannualgrowthincrementmeasured.Thedateoffirstrootemergence,numberofmainroots,numberoflateralroots,lengthofmainrootsandtheemergencedateofgrowthpeakvariedtocertaindegreeamongtheselectedclones.
