"GenTree dissemination products include a booklet, a newsletter, a Twitter feed (@GentreeProject), photos, blog pieces and videos on the importance of forest tree genetic diversity, all viewable at:
http://www.gentree-h2020.eu/(opens in new window)The project concluded with a series of international events held in Avignon, France, in January 2020 that highlighted the impressive scientific, technical and dissemination work carried out by the GenTree consortium since 2016. The large, carbon-neutral scientific conference organized by GenTree during this week (#rescueforest) was entirely filmed and the talks are available on-line via the project website.
In total, 4700+ trees from 12 species and 210 sites were sampled across Europe. Trees in populations were characterized for traits useful for adaptation and response to global change, from both a conservation and a breeding perspective, and their leaves sampled for DNA extraction and functional trait measurements. The ecological and climate conditions of the sites were fully described.
The DNA sequencing strategies used in GenTree target gene families and functions that are relevant for adaptation and similarly expressed in all species, both facilitating sequencing and making comparisons across species relevant when looking for the demographic and selection processes involved in how diversity is expressed within and among populations, at local, landscape and regional levels.
An important but rarely done assessment in forest trees, is to look for signatures of selection at the early stage of life, that of germination. After an extensive assessment of seed yield across Europe, surveying all species of the project, Pinus sylvestris, Betula pendula and Pinus pinaster were chosen for the in-situ germination experiment. Results showed a large phenotypic variability in root emergence time and stem development time across distribution ranges, and suggested an early adaptive response to the environment.
Traits and genetic combinations important for breeding under climate change constraints were found in marginal and peripheral populations, themselves less resilient than core populations, making them urgent targets for both conservation and breeding. High-throughput methods such as unmanned and infrared spectrum devices, as well as leaf chemistry and genomics were all found relevant in-situ. Currently used Forest Reproductive Material in Europe showed an overall, albeit truncated, similarity with wild material that should be compensated by creating ex-situ core collections.
Modelling took up a large part of the activities of GenTree. It was used to upgrade and implement innovative, low-cost breeding strategies, designed to balance genetic gain with loss of genetic diversity. Modelling also demonstrated that genetic variability reduces the risk of population extinction under current and future climatic conditions, particularly at the warm, southern margins of species distribution ranges. Thinning and assisted migration had significant but low positive effect in mitigating vulnerability.
Stakeholders’ engagement also took up a significant part of the project’s activity. Stakeholders surveyed by GenTree were aware of the importance of genetic diversity for forestry. However, their perception of which policy or legislation is helpful or detrimental to FGR, varied widely, chiefly by country. To raise awareness further on how genetic diversity can be a nature-based solution for adapting forests and forestry, GenTree organized several events targeting policy-makers, forest managers and administration executives, often in collaboration with the EUFORGEN programme."
