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BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram

ForestValue JC2021 – Assess4EST, Seeing trees and forests for the future: assessment of trade-offs and pot. to breed and mng for sust.for.

Alternative title: ForestValue JC2021 – Assess4EST, Vurdere trærnes og skogens egenskaper for framtiden: avveininger og potensiale for genetisk forbedring

Awarded: NOK 3.0 mill.

Many considerations have to be taken into account in forest management to ensure adequate levels of profitability, biodiversity, and other forest ecosystem services. Forests in the Nordic countries represent an enormous resource that plays a fundamental role in a larger context than what each individual forest owner usually considers. They provide raw materials for a wide range of products and serve as a long-term carbon storage in the form of standing trees or long-lasting products in service such as wooden constructions or furniture. Forests must be managed so that they are robust to climate change, while at the same time they utilize the land production potential and possibly also beneficial growing conditions generated by changing climate. This project will assess the scope of opportunities in the forest management and balance the trade offs between volume, quality, and diversity to fulfill societal needs and UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The WoodWorks! Cluster that involves industrial, developmental, managerial and research partners in Norway will contribute by dialog mediation among the actors, which will help scientists to foresee future needs of raw materials and their use. New genomic tools enable simultaneous improvement of negatively correlated traits such as wood volume and density and thereby help us better select future genetic rejuvenation material. Furthermore, regeneration and managerial choices have to be evaluated by simulating their effect on forest ecosystem services both at stand and landscape levels. The results will provide a solid starting point for the development of strategies to deal with the trade-offs in breeding and management for long-term production of the resource needed in the future. Field measurements for the project have been completed, and collected data are being statistically analyzed. To study phenotypic plasticity, i.e., the ability of organisms to adapt to different environmental conditions, a set of the same Norway spruce clones growing at four different environments (each in one of the four Nordic countries – Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark) was selected. The clones represented vegetatively propagated offspring whose Norwegian and Eastern European parental trees were control-pollinated. All 36 year old trees were scored for survival at all sites and were measured for stem diameter, wood density and grain angle. Stem diameter was chosen because it is one of the main economic drivers, whilst wood density significantly influences the suitability of wood for various utilizations. Grain angle, a degree of deviation from the longitudinal arrangement of wood fibers, affects the twisting of sawn lumber. The goal of this part of the project is to increase our knowledge about which traits that are important for long-term stability in the forest production, with the emphasis on the timber qualities that are needed to fill the societal demand. Another part of this project involves genomic selection, the aim of which is to select a subset of best performing trees or families within a large Norway spruce progeny test using mathematical models constructed from both phenotypic (physically measured traits) and genotypic (DNA profiles) data. Apart from the traits mentioned above, tree height that was measured by drone scanning is also included. In parallel to the field measurements, interaction with the industry was initiated. Two stakeholder forums were arranged by the industrial partner WoodWorks! Cluster, one on the national and the other on the international level. Both of them were carried out with a combination of prepared contributions by experts and stakeholders and comments by the participants. Data from the field measurements, together with the workshops’ outcomes, will serve as background information for simulation work. The simulations will be run at the national level, considering various climate change scenarios.

In Northern Europe, forests are subjected to intensive management and harvesting. Forests biomasses have as major role in bioeconomy which, according to the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, aims to reduce dependence on non-renewable, unsustainable resources; ensure food and nutrition security; manage natural resources sustainably; limit and adapt to climate change; and strengthen European competitiveness and create jobs. Recent focus on the role of forests has been in carbon sequestration, ecosystem services and biodiversity. However, European forests are experiencing rapid climate change with abiotic and biotic threats that affect forest health and sustainability and cause severe economic losses. Mitigation of climate change has therefore been raised as a highly important target with the forest management. Detrimental effects of climate change can also be mitigated by tree breeding: e.g., by increasing drought and disease resistance of as well as the adaptation to the extended growing seasons we expect. However, the impact of tree breeding and regeneration methods on growth and resilience of forests, and the quality of wood produced, have not been fully acknowledged. Present advanced generation seed orchards produce seedlings with over 20% increase in volume production and tree breeding has already had a significant impact on forest growth. The impact will be much higher in the near future, thus, advancing tree breeding will alter not only the expected yield, but also the rotation period, substantially shortening the time of final harvesting.

Funding scheme:

BIONÆR-Bionæringsprogram