Search

Forest tree breeding has been ongoing for more than 70 years across Europe. It has successfully generated improved varieties for the major economical forest tree species. They are part of the present European forestry landscape and largely contribute to intensive wood production and other forest activities. In this book, we describe the state-of-art of breeding for the main forest tree species. We provide a comprehensive, unique and up-to-date overview of the major scientific results and breeding achievements gathered from the many programmes scattered across Europe. The book is divided into 10 chapters, each as a monograph corresponding to a species or group of species Abies spp., (Larix spp., Picea abies, Picea sitchensis, Pinus sylvestris, Pseudotsuga menziesii, and Mediterranean pines; Acer pseudoplatanus, Fraxinus excelsior, and Prunus avium). Each of them is written by a group of experts and focuses on the distribution and economical importance of the species; motivation for breeding and breeding objectives; intraspecific genetic variability, breeding populations and breeding strategy; forest reproductive material deployment including mass-propagation and, prospects and perspectives for joint research and breeding. The book is a unique and up-dated source of information for students, researchers and professionals interested in the genetics and domestication of forest tree species.

European larch (Larix decidua) is a native species from the Alps and from several mountainous ranges in Central Europe. Its early introduction outside its native range, especially in lowlands western and northern Europe has been problematic for ecological (phenology) and sanitary (canker) reasons due to the lack of knowledge of its genetic variability. As a substitute, Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) and then hybrids between European and Japanese larches have been preferred in these regions together with Siberian larches in northern Scandinavia. Results from intensive provenances testing (as early as in the 1940s) have been the corner stone on which breeding programmes have developed both at the intra- (mostly in Central and Eastern Europe) and inter-specific (mostly in North-Western Europe) levels. Inter-specific hybridization is probably the most emblematic and promising breeding strategy for larch, taking benefit of both species trait complementarity, hybrid vigour (heterosis) and hybrid homeostasis. While seed orchards are now the main source for dissemination of genetic progress for European larch, mass-production of hybrid larch remains problematic either through sexual (hybridization seed orchard) or asexual (vegetative propagation by cutting) ways and still impedes large deployment of hybrids in Europe. While progress is expected from current research on this topic (coupling of somatic embryogenesis with bulk vegetative propagation by cutting, 2nd generation hybridization orchard), other hot issues include decoding of heterosis, evaluation of genetic variability for the most original larch wood properties (heartwood formation and durability), adaptation to climate, etc. Joined efforts at European level are expected for genetic resource conservation, breeding and deployment, and tackling of several scientific and technical bottlenecks.