Forest Conservation Genetics


Book Description

Forest management must be sustainable not only in ecological, economic and social, but also genetic terms. Many forest managers are advocating and developing management strategies that give priority to conserving genetic diversity within production systems, or that recognise the importance of genetic considerations in achieving sustainable management. Forest Conservation Genetics draws together much previously uncollected information relevant to managing and conserving forests. The content emphasises the importance of conserving genetic diversity in achieving sustainable management. Each chapter is written by a leading expert and has been peer reviewed. Readers without a background in genetics will find the logical sequence of topics allows easy understanding of the principles involved and how those principles may impact on day-to-day forest planning and management decisions. The book is primarily aimed at undergraduate students of biology, ecology, forestry, and graduate students of forest genetics, resource management policy and/or conservation biology. It will prove useful for those teaching courses in these fields and as such help to increase the awareness of genetic factors in conservation and sustainable management, in both temperate and tropical regions.




Genetics and Improvement of Forest Trees


Book Description

Forest tree improvement has mainly been implemented to enhance the productivity of artificial forests. However, given the drastically changing global environment, improvement of various traits related to environmental adaptability is more essential than ever. This book focuses on genetic information, including trait heritability and the physiological mechanisms thereof, which facilitate tree improvement. Nineteen papers are included, reporting genetic approaches to improving various species, including conifers, broad-leaf trees, and bamboo. All of the papers in this book provide cutting-edge genetic information on tree genetics and suggest research directions for future tree improvement.




Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences


Book Description

A combination of broad disciplinary coverage and scientific excellence, the Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences will be an indispensable addition to the library of anyone interested in forests, forestry and forest sciences. Packed with valuable insights from experts all over the world, this remarkable set not only summarizes recent advances in forest science techniques, but also thoroughly covers the basic information vital to comprehensive understanding of the important elements of forestry. The Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences also covers relevant biology and ecology, different types of forestry (e.g. tropical forestry and dryland forestry), scientific names of trees and shrubs, and the applied, economic, and social aspects of forest management. Valuable key features further enhance the utility of this Encyclopedia as an exceptional reference tool. Also available online via ScienceDirect – featuring extensive browsing, searching, and internal cross-referencing between articles in the work, plus dynamic linking to journal articles and abstract databases, making navigation flexible and easy. For more information, pricing options and availability visit www.info.sciencedirect.com. Edited and written by a distinguished group of editors and contributors Well-organized encyclopedic format provides concise, readable entries, easy searches, and thorough cross-references Illustrative tables, figures, and photographs in every entry, produced in full color Comprehensive glossary defines new and important terms Complete, up-to-date coverage of over 60 areas of forest sciences - sure to be of interest to scientists, students, and professionals alike! Editor-in-Chief is the past president of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations, the oldest international collaborative forestry research organization with over 15,000 scientists from 100 countries




Finding the Mother Tree


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest—a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide. In this, her first book, now available in paperback, Simard brings us into her world, the intimate world of the trees, in which she brilliantly illuminates the fascinating and vital truths--that trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but are a complicated, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks by which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities with communal lives not that different from our own. Simard writes--in inspiring, illuminating, and accessible ways—how trees, living side by side for hundreds of years, have evolved, how they learn and adapt their behaviors, recognize neighbors, compete and cooperate with one another with sophistication, characteristics ascribed to human intelligence, traits that are the essence of civil societies--and at the center of it all, the Mother Trees: the mysterious, powerful forces that connect and sustain the others that surround them. And Simard writes of her own life, born and raised into a logging world in the rainforests of British Columbia, of her days as a child spent cataloging the trees from the forest and how she came to love and respect them. And as she writes of her scientific quest, she writes of her own journey, making us understand how deeply human scientific inquiry exists beyond data and technology, that it is about understanding who we are and our place in the world.




Tree Breeding: Principles and Strategies


Book Description

It has become apparent, during discussions with students and colleagues in forest genetics, that a universal concern is the achievement of diverse goals of forestry from fiber production in industrial as well as farm forests to conserving forest ecosystems. Although we generally have several breeding methods available and several species to breed, we seek to satisfy multiple-use goals on diverse sites by management techniques that at best can only partially control edaphic environmental variation. The dominant approach, which was agriculturally motivated, has involved inten sive effort with complicated breeding plans on single species for uniform adaptability and single-product plantations. However, this is obviously neither the only, nor necessarily the best, solution for the genetic management of tree species, and thus our intent in this volume is to develop ways to achieve multiple objectives in tree breeding. We include an array of breeding plans from simple iterated designs to sets of multiple populations capable of using gene actions for different traits in different environments for uncertain futures. The presentation is organized around the development of breeding from single-to multiple-option plans, from single to multiple traits, from single to mUltiple environ ments, and from single to multiple populations. However, it is not a complete "How To" book, and includes neither exercises nor instructions on data handling. It also does not include discussion of all modes of reproduction and inheritance encountered in plants.




THE STATE OF THE WORLD’s FOREST GENETIC RESOURCES


Book Description

The publication was prepared based on information provided by 86 countries, outcomes from regional and subregional consultations and commissioned thematic studies. It includes: •an overview of definitions and concepts related to Forest Genetic Resources (FGR) and a review of their value; •a description of the main drivers of changes; •the presentation of key emerging technologies; •an analysis of the current status of FGR conservation, use and related developments; •recommendations addressing the challenges and needs. By the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.




Introduction to Forest Genetics


Book Description

Introduction to Forest Genetics examines some of the basic genetic concepts typically used in forestry and tree improvement studies, including Mendelian and population genetics. It also describes techniques that are generally useful in tree improvement work, including individual tree selection and breeding, provenance testing, species and racial hybridization, and introduction of exotics. Organized into 19 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of forest genetics and problems associated with forest genetics. It then discusses concepts from basic genetics, including chromosome structure and function; DNA and RNA; nongenetic inheritance; and genotype versus phenotype. Other chapters focus on inbreeding: complete elimination of homozygous recessive trees; mutation and migration; and controlled pollination and vegetative propagation. The book also covers the establishment and measurement of test plantations; general principles and methods of selective breeding; choice of breeding method and type of seed orchard; heritability and genetic gain; geographic variation in Scotch pine and American trees; species and racial hybridization; chromosome studies; and polyploidy and haploidy breeding. This book is a valuable resource for foresters, professional tree breeders, and those with or without previous training in genetics or forestry.




Modern Methods in Forest Genetics


Book Description

The present volume contains papers developed from courses given at the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) Bio chemical Genetics Workshop (Working Party S.04-5) held at the Univer sity of Gottingen, Germany on July 5 through 28, 1973. The workshop was organized by Professor Robert G. Stanley and was held in memory of Professor Klaus Stern. Unfortunately, both met with untimely deaths. Professor Stanley was also instrumental in initiating the process of having the workshop proceedings published. I was asked by the workshop participants to complete this task, and I wish to acknowledge their cooperation, advice and encouragement. In addition to the courses and subsequent papers resulting from the above workshop, we have included some papers by colleagues who were unable to attend the meeting. The contents of this text may, there fore, be considered a working-manual of generally "modern" techniques that are applicable to forest genetics and breeding programs. The chapters are placed in five major categories. The first three categories follow according to classes of chemical constituents in herent to plants which are nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) , primary gene products (amino acids, proteins and enzymes) and primary and secon dary metabolites (carbohydrate polymers, resins, phenolics, pigments, etc.). The fourth category is concerned with the interaction of en vironment and gene systems. Indirect selection, crossing and proto plasmic and flowering manipulation are factors covered in the fifth category.







Conservation and the Genetics of Populations


Book Description

Loss of biodiversity is among the greatest problems facing the world today. Conservation and the Genetics of Populations gives a comprehensive overview of the essential background, concepts, and tools needed to understand how genetic information can be used to conserve species threatened with extinction, and to manage species of ecological or commercial importance. New molecular techniques, statistical methods, and computer programs, genetic principles, and methods are becoming increasingly useful in the conservation of biological diversity. Using a balance of data and theory, coupled with basic and applied research examples, this book examines genetic and phenotypic variation in natural populations, the principles and mechanisms of evolutionary change, the interpretation of genetic data from natural populations, and how these can be applied to conservation. The book includes examples from plants, animals, and microbes in wild and captive populations. This second edition contains new chapters on Climate Change and Exploited Populations as well as new sections on genomics, genetic monitoring, emerging diseases, metagenomics, and more. One-third of the references in this edition were published after the first edition. Each of the 22 chapters and the statistical appendix have a Guest Box written by an expert in that particular topic (including James Crow, Louis Bernatchez, Loren Rieseberg, Rick Shine, and Lisette Waits). This book is essential for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of conservation genetics, natural resource management, and conservation biology, as well as professional conservation biologists working for wildlife and habitat management agencies. Additional resources for this book can be found at: www.wiley.com/go/allendorf/populations.