By Darren Moseley, Duncan Ray, Kevin Watts & Jonathan Humphrey.
Contract report to Forestry Commission Scotland, Forestry Commission GB and Scottish Natural Heritage.
A collaboration between Forest Research, Oxford University and Roslin Institute (University of Edinburgh) which will use DNA-marker technology to identify at a very early age those Sitka spruce trees which will have outstanding growth rate and timber quality when felled 30-years later
Exposure to a contrasting novel environment such as waterlogging under common garden conditions can trigger release of otherwise unobservable (cryptic) genetic variation. Under a flooding treatment, there was a greater increase in variability in Scots pine populations originating from drier sites in Scotland which likely reflects a relative absence of past selection. Under climate change this cryptic genetic variation may provide considerable potential to adapt.
This Technical paper provides an account of genetic variation in forest tree species. It reviews our understanding of the genetic variation of native tree and shrub species in Britain. Highlights the issues that need to be addressed in developing a genetic conservation policy for British forestry. This publication is still available in hardcopy.
Growing threats to biodiversity from pressure of land use, climate change, and invasive pests and diseases highlight the importance of obtaining accurate baseline measurements of current forest biodiversity, as well as improved monitoring to detect early signals of change. Developments in molecular techniques have advanced to the stage that there are now practical methods available […]
This paper stresses that future use of ‘alternative’ species for diversification should be contingent on rigorous biological risk assessment, results from forestry scale trials, and the establishment of sustainable British seed sources.
• Novel dendrochronological modelling was developed to explore oak stem growth trends.
• Trees with long-term AOD symptoms may have been predisposed many decades earlier.
• Diseased trees struggle to take advantage of favourable growing conditions.
• Historic episodes of stress may impact the future resilience of oaks to disturbance.
LAP2 commenced in 2019 as an extension of the earlier Living Ash Project phase I.
The objectives of LAP2 are to:
Establish a National Archive of Tolerant Ash based on selections made in the Living Ash Project phase I and from Forest Research’s mass screening trials (Future Trees Trust)
Intensively screen selected trees using...
Forest Research have been engaged in efforts to improve tolerance of ash trees to ash dieback caused by Hymenoscyphus fraxineus (previously known as ‘Chalara‘) since the disease was first recognised in Great Britain in 2012.
Progress has been made under three main projects:
Living Ash Project
Ash dieback mass screening trials
Testing a range of ash species for tolerance to ash dieback
Across these three projects,...
Study finds twinflower in Scotland exhibits genetic effects of chronic population fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation is widely thought to contribute to the decline of plant species. In part, this is due to the restriction it places on the flow of genes (which occurs through pollen and seed dispersal) within a plant population, creating sub-populations within which localised […]
This Research Report provides a review of published results from provenance tests of relevance to English native trees to identify factors which may influence the risk, suitability and desirability of the use of local versus non-local seed under climate change.
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