Management Of Forest Genetic Resources Research Articles

A Conceptual Framework for Conservation and Management of Moroccan Forest Genetic Resources Using Biogeography-Based Approach

The introduction of mal-adapted genotype is a major concern in conservation and management of forest genetic resources. This is risky because it potentially threatens the integrity of the natural genetic structure of populations. Therefore, it is necessary to provide guidance on the choice of appropriate germplasm and determine how far it can be moved from its native environment. The most basic guidelines for germplasm movement involve the use of Regions of Provenance (RoP). The RoP for a forest species or sub-species is the area or group of areas subject to sufficiently uniform ecological conditions in which stands or seed sources showing similar phenotypic or genetic characters are found, taking into account altitudinal boundaries where appropriate. However, there is little information concerning Regions of Provenance and limited knowledge about safe limits to the movement of seed, cuttings and planting stock in Morocco. This paper establishes a conceptual framework based on Regions of Provenance that is designed to better understand, protect and use forest genetic resources in Morocco, especially the species for which no specific knowledge on local adaptation or no data about population differentiation are currently available. This is the first study that represents a precise map of Regions of Provenance for Moroccan forest reproductive material and that provides detailed description on topographical, environmental and forest characteristics that characterize each Region of Provenance, by using geographical information system (GIS) techniques. A biogeography-based approach was applied and revealed that the territory was hierarchically organized into 2 Biogeographic Divisions, 9 Biogeographic Units and 19 Regions of Provenance. The RoP proposed are intended as a practical provenance decision-making tool to guide the movement of forest reproductive material in Morocco. This ensures the traceability of planting stock throughout the harvesting-seedling production-plantation process to a specified Forest Basic Material.

Современное состояние селекции и семеноводства хвойных пород

The article analyzes and summarizes information on breeding and seed production of the main forest-forming and commercial species for the countries of Northern Europe and Russia: Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst). It is shown that in the last 40–50 years Sweden and Finland have completed the first (primary) cycle of plus-tree breeding, and the second cycle is being actively pursued. In terms of seed production, this means a gradual replacement of the 1st generation forest seed orchards with the forest seed orchards of enhanced genetic value (of 1.5 and 2nd generation). By the middle of the 21st century, the productivity of new artificial stands is expected to increase by 20–25 % in terms of stem wood stock due to breeding work. Successful and quite large-scale works were undertaken in plus trees phenotypic breeding and forest seed orchards (1st generation) planting in some regions of European Russia in the last third of the 20th century. However, even this first (primary) cycle of plus-tree breeding has not been fully completed. The latter makes it possible to lay out the necessary areas of multiplicative populations of increased genetic value – forest seed orchards of the 1.5 generation. Although this is impossible to achieve in many subjects of the Northwestern Federal District due to the insufficient number of selected plus trees and, most importantly, the extremely small area of progeny tests. At present, the vast majority of initially selected plus trees were not genetically tested, which hinders the possibility of further development of the plus-tree breeding system. Russia also lacks special breeding zoning of the main forest-forming species, providing a spatial organization of breeding work and the use of seeds from forest seed orchards. A federal program for the preservation and sustainable management of forest genetic resources of the Russian Federation, together with a number of subprograms for genetic research and breeding of the most important forest-forming species, should be developed to achieve progress in this direction, considering current advances in molecular genetics and biotechnology. Acknowledgments: Financial support of the research was provided by the federal budget for the state assignment of the Forest Research Institute and the Department of Multidisciplinary Scientific Research of Karelian Research Centre, Russian Academy of Sciences with partial support of the World-class Scientific and Educational Center “Russian Arctic: New Materials, Technologies and research Methods”. For citation: Raevsky B.V., Ignatenko R.V., Novichonok E.V., Prokopiuk V.M., Kuklina K.K. The Current State of Conifer Species Breeding and Seed Production. Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2022, no. 6, pp. 9–37. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2022-6-9-37

Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Robinia pseudoacacia Depending on the Origin of Different Geographic Provenances

Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is recognised as a forest species of interest due to its multiple uses. The management of forest genetic resources and their efficient conservation suffer from variations in traits and start with seed germination. The aim of the current study was to investigate the germination of seeds obtained from plus trees selected in eight Romanian provenances, as well as to investigate the influence of the origin upon plants’ growth and development. Two experiments were undertaken to test seed germination: one treatment involved water-soaked seeds and heat/cold treatment, while the other treatment was based on sulphuric acid, at different concentrations (50, 70, 90%). The results were correlated with the morphological analysis of the seeds. Satu-Mare had the lowest germination rate within both treatments. Sulphuric acid did not improve seed germination as much as the heat treatment. The highest germination rate occurred for the water and temperature treatment on seeds from Bihor provenance (68.2%). The most distant provenance was Bihor, in inverse correlation with Bistrița Năsăud and grouped separately within the hierarchical dendrogram of cluster analysis based on the analysed parameters of the provenances investigated. The results demonstrated that the genotypes and environmental heterogeneity of the seed origin within the provenances may finally result in different performances.

Managing forest genetic resources as a strategy to adapt forests to climate change: perceptions of European forest owners and managers

Managing genetic diversity is of key importance in fostering resilience of forest ecosystems to climate change. We carried out a survey reaching over 200 forest owners and managers from 15 European countries to understand their perceptions of the main threats to forest ecosystems, their knowledge of forest genetic resources (FGR) and their attitude toward actively managing these resources to strengthen the resilience of forest ecosystems to climate change. Respondents perceived pests and diseases to be the top-ranking threats to forests, followed by windstorms and drought, with differences across countries. They stated to be aware of the potential offered by managing FGR and indicated that they paid attention to origin and quality in their choice of planting material. Generally, respondents showed a positive attitude in using forest reproductive material foreign to the planting site, to better match the projected future climate conditions, introducing either a new native tree species or a new non-local genotype of a species already planted (keeping the same species but changing the source of planting material). However, forest reproductive material from local sources was largely preferred over non-local material (both genetically improved and not improved). Forest managers and owners may need to be exposed to more evidence of the potential benefits deriving from active adaptation and mitigation management of FGR before implementing adaptive measures. Also, more efforts should be invested in understanding perceptions and motivations of European forest owners and managers, in order to better tailor advice on optimal measures to counteract the detrimental effects of climate change.

The Interplay between Forest Management Practices, Genetic Monitoring, and Other Long-Term Monitoring Systems

The conservation and sustainable use of forests and forest genetic resources (FGR) is a challenging task for scientists and foresters. Forest management practices can affect diversity on various levels: genetic, species, and ecosystem. Understanding past natural disturbance dynamics and their level of dependence on human disturbances and management practices is essential for the conservation and management of FGR, especially in the light of climate change. In this review, forest management practices and their impact on genetic composition are reviewed, synthesized, and interpreted in the light of existing national and international forest monitoring schemes and concepts from various European projects. There is a clear need and mandate for forest genetic monitoring (FGM), while the requirements thereof lack complementarity with existing forest monitoring. Due to certain obstacles (e.g., the lack of unified FGM implementation procedures across the countries, high implementation costs, large number of indicators and verifiers for FGM proposed in the past), merging FGM with existing forest monitoring is complicated. Nevertheless, FGM is of paramount importance for forestry and the natural environment in the future, regardless of the presence or existence of other monitoring systems, as it provides information no other monitoring system can yield. FGM can provide information related to adaptive and neutral genetic diversity changes over time, on a species and/or on a population basis and can serve as an early warning system for the detection of potentially harmful changes of forest adaptability. In addition, FGM offers knowledge on the adaptive potential of forests under the changing environment, which is important for the long-term conservation of FGR.

Intraspecific Variation in Pines from the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt Grown under Two Watering Regimes: Implications for Management of Genetic Resources

Management of forest genetic resources requires experimental data related to the genetic variation of the species and populations under different climatic conditions. Foresters also demand to know how the main selective drivers will influence the adaptability of the genetic resources. To assess the inter- and intraspecific variation and plasticity in seedling drought tolerance at a relevant genetic resource management scale, we tested the changes in growth and biomass allocation of seedlings of Pinus oocarpa, P. patula and P. pseudostrobus under two contrasting watering regimes. We found general significant intraspecific variation and intraspecific differences in plasticity, since both population and watering by population interaction were significant for all three species. All the species and populations share a common general avoidance mechanism (allometric adjustment of shoot/root biomass). However, the intraspecific variation and differences in phenotypic plasticity among populations modify the adaptation strategies of the species to drought. Some of the differences are related to the climatic conditions of the location of origin. We confirmed that even at reduced geographical scales, Mexican pines present differences in the response to water stress. The differences among species and populations are relevant in afforestation programs as well as in genetic conservation activities.

Conservation and Monitoring of Tree Genetic Resources in Temperate Forests

In the era of predicted significant environmental change, genetic conservation and monitoring of long-lived forest trees are of paramount importance for the survival of natural populations. Genetic conservation aims to protect and preserve genetic variation, vital for the maintenance of adaptive potential within populations and species. This paper discusses the advances made in gene conservation and genetic monitoring approaches in particular that aim to put into practise a concept that was developed more than 25 years ago, but rarely put into practise. Genetic monitoring, the quantification of temporal changes in population genetic variation and structure, elucidates processes that maintain genetic variation in natural populations, introduces prognosis and helps define tools for the management of forest genetic resources. Based on the geneecological approach, proposed indicators reflect the assessment of genetic variation, genetic drift, gene flow (mating system) and natural selection. Indicators are evaluated in contemporary monitoring schemes by 7–11 verifiers. Genomic data are expected to increase the precision of estimates of adaptive genetic potential and of population genetic parameters due to the significantly higher number of markers assayed. The transition from genetic to genomic monitoring should provide an enhanced potential for disentangling natural selection from demography, and deciphering the association of genetic variation to environmental gradients. In the future, genetic monitoring will be more limited by time-consuming procedures and funding constraints in the assessment of demographic parameters, as well as by conceptual and analytical weaknesses of biostatistical tools, than by genotyping needs and the amount of available sequence data. Its important contribution to applied forest management can be foreseen.

Regions of provenance for reproductive materials of the three main forest species of Abruzzi

ABSTRACTRegions of provenance of reproductive materials are a mandatory tool for the management of forest genetic resources in Europe. Italian regulation (D. Lgs. 386/2003), in contrast with other European countries, gives this role to regional administrations. Here we present a map of the Regions of Provenance for Abruzzi in central Italy. Three environmental zones were identified according to climatic variability using a spatial clustering procedure and the three main forest species for the region were mapped: European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.), European black pine (Pinus nigra J.F. Arnold) and Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.). The results show that the main driving factors for clustering are temperature regimes reflecting the contrast between the continental climate of the interior of the region versus the Mediterranean climate on the coast. This effect was also evident in the delineation of the Regions of Provenance for the three main species where elevation plays a key role in the selection of seed stands. The Regions of Provenance of the three species will be used for the correct management of forest reproductive materials collected from the six seed stands of the Region.

Understanding local patterns of genetic diversity in dipterocarps using a multi-site, multi-species approach: Implications for forest management and restoration

The lowland tropical forests of Southeast Asia are dominated by a single family of canopy and emergent trees, the Dipterocarpaceae. The seeds of dipterocarps are gravity or gyration dispersed. Short distance and limited seed dispersal via these mechanisms result in the aggregation of related individuals and strong fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS). In logged and fragmented forests, where gene flow may be disrupted, tree species with strong FSGS are predicted to exhibit increased inbreeding, which consequently can erode genetic diversity, fitness and might limit the potential for natural regeneration of dipterocarps. Developing a set of indirect operational indicators for FSGS provides a solid basis for informing conservation and management of forest genetic resources in logged forests. Our main objective was to use an information theoretic approach to identify these indicators of FSGS in dipterocarps. We quantify FSGS in 19 dipterocarp species across four forest sites in Malaysian Borneo, India and the Seychelles. We detected FSGS in 15 (79%) of our study species, most of which displayed significant inbreeding. Our results suggest that wood density and flower size offer useful indicators of FSGS. We propose some simple guidelines to allow forest managers to account for FSGS when planning approaches to maintain genetically diverse stands in logged dipterocarp forests. The integration of improved understanding of genetic processes is essential for conserving forest tree genetic resources and ensuring the resilience of logged forests.

Fine-scale spatial genetic structure in a multi-oak-species (Quercus spp.) forest

Abstract: Patterns of fine-scale spatial distribution of multilocus genotypes can provide valuable insights into the biology of forest tree species. Here we tested for the existence of spatial genetic structure (SGS) in a four-oak-species forest with contrasting species abundances and hybridization rates. A total of 483 adult trees were mapped over 8.6 ha and genotyped using 10 highly polymorphic genomic regions. A weak but significant SGS was observed in each of the four oak species, with Quercus frainetto, the species with the lowest density in the sampling plot, exhibiting the strongest SGS. The values of the Sp statistic were 0.0033, 0.0035, 0.0042, and 0.0098 for Q. petraea, Q. robur, Q. pubescens, and Q. frainetto, respectively. The spatial correlogram of the total population was significantly different when hybrids were removed from the analysis, which suggests that hybridization influenced the SGS. Interspecific SGSs were significantly correlated with the rates of hybridization. Implications of the obtained results for the conservation and management of forest genetic resources are discussed.

Genetic effects of forest management practices: Global synthesis and perspectives

Understanding the genetic impacts of forest management practices is crucial for conservation and management of forest genetic resources. Forest management practices based on selective and clear cut systems followed by natural or artificial regeneration can impact population structure and mating patterns, thus gene flow and genetic diversity. Survival and productivity of both tree and non-tree species can be compromised or, possibly, enhanced. The extent of genetic impacts depend on the management system applied, stand structure as well as species’ distribution, demography, biological attributes and ecology. The impact of management practices is reviewed and synthesized for temperate, boreal and tropical forests based on experimental and simulation studies. In addition, the effects of genetically improved planting materials and establishment of large scale plantations on natural forests are examined. Recommendations are made for genetically sustainable forest management practices.

Ectomycorrhizal fungi and the nitrogen economy of conifers — implications for genecology and climate change mitigation

The nitrogen (N) economy of conifers is hypothesized to reflect three spatially defined and interacting sources of variability in forest nutrition. These include the physiological adaptations of the host tree (N uptake capacities among populations), matched to the particular amount and nature of soil N supply (organic N, NH4+, and NO3–), as mediated by communities of site-adapted ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi. The spatial attributes of an N economy may vary considerably over the ranges of tree species because of wide gradients in climate and soil fertility, underpinning a potentially important aspect of conifer genecology with implications for climate change mitigation. The evidence for an intersection of N supply with host demand, as mediated by EM fungi, will be briefly reviewed and then evaluated in light of assisted migration studies involving provenance trials of coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) in southwestern British Columbia. The trials were established across a wide range of site types, and so they provide valuable data on host response to gradations in soil N supply and interactions with local EM fungal communities. Preliminary results and knowledge gaps will be discussed under the framework of an N economy and management of forest genetic resources.

Fragmentation Genetics of Vateria indica: implications for management of forest genetic resources of an endemic dipterocarp

Tropical agro-forest landscapes are potentially valuable reserves of forest genetic resources for forestry and restoration of degraded forests. The Dipterocarpaceae is a dominant Southeast Asian family of tree species of global significance for the tropical timber industry. Very little information exists about how effective human modified landscapes are for conserving genetic diversity in dipterocarp species. This study provides a baseline for understanding how fragmented agro-forest landscapes in India sustain forest genetic resources in an endemic dipterocarp tree. We compare genetic diversity and fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) in the threatened tree species Vateria indica within an isolated and a continuous forest site in the Western Ghats, South India. We place these results in the context of dipterocarps from both the Seychelles and Borneo. Parentage analysis of 694 progeny using twelve nuclear microsatellite markers is applied to estimate pollen and seed dispersal. Using a nursery trial we evaluate effects of inbreeding on growth performance. Our results show that levels of FSGS, and gene dispersal are comparable between a small isolated and a large continuous site of V. indica. Realized long-distance pollen flow into the isolated patch appears to help maintaining genetic diversity. The nursery experiment suggests that selection favours outbred progeny. Individuals of V. indica in close proximity appear less related to each other than in another highly fragmented and endangered dipterocarp species from the Seychelles, but more related than in three dipterocarp species studied in continuous forest in Borneo. We discuss the wider implications of our findings in the context of conservation and restoration of dipterocarp forest genetic resources in fragmented populations.

The institutional design of forest certification standards initiatives and its influence on the role of science: the case of forest genetic resources

In the 1990s a wide array of non-governmental certification initiatives emerged as a way to promote the sustainable management of resources in sectors such as fisheries and forestry. In this paper, we examine two related questions about these initiatives: how does the institutional design of certification initiatives affect the way science is used in the development of certification standards and in whose interest is science employed? Using the empirical case of forest certification and the specific standards various initiatives have created to address the management of forest genetic resources, we show how structural aspects of decision-making processes affects the standards adopted and the rationalization for their appropriateness. Two basic models of decision-making—stakeholder participation and technical expertise—are discussed in relation to three certification initiatives active in North America—the Canadian Standards Association, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council. By examining the standards these initiatives set for the management of forest genetic resources, we illustrate how two dimensions of science—uncertainty and the logic of cause and effect—are used to rationalize cautious and rigid versus flexible and discretionary standards for the management of forest genetic resources. Our findings indicate that the design or structure of certification decision-making processes, and their embedded balance of authority, mediate the form of standards initiatives will justify on the basis of science.

Forschung zur Vielfalt, vielfältige Forschung: Ziele und Wege der Forstgenetik | Research on diversity, diverse research: objectives and approaches in forest genetics

The genetic information about forest trees is not only of crucial importance for the yield of forestry production systems,but also for determining the evolutionary adaptive potential of tree populations. Thus, the stability of forest ecosystems depends on the sustainable management of forest genetic resources. In this context, tree breeding and conservation of forest genetic resources are mentioned as main applications of research in forest genetics. Genetic inventories are conducted in order to observe the spatial distribution of genetic information at gene marker loci. Such studies allow us to elucidate the evolutionary history of populations and, thus, to draw conclusions about their evolutionary adaptability. Results of a genetic inventory of oak (Quercus spp.) populations native to Switzerland are presented, and their significance for the characterization of genetic systems and adaptive potential is discussed. Future research into forest genetics should aim at improving our understanding of the relationship between variation at biochemical and molecular marker loci and adaptive processes in forest tree populations. The temporal dynamics of genetic structures of forest tree populations as a consequence of anthropogenic environmental change is another important topic of forest genetics in particular for the conservation of rare species.

Japanese Tree Improvement and Forest Genetics

Abstract Scientific information on the management of forest genetic resources is one commodity that should be freely exchanged among nations. American foresters and breeders can learn much about the benefits and risks of clonal plantations from the Japanese, who have a long history of vegetative Propagation techniques and tree improvement programs despite the high cost of management and the reliance on imported wood. Conservation of genetic resources of indigenous forest species is also important in Japan, and excellent research in all forestry disciplines continues.