Welcome to our third newsletter!

B4EST is an EU-funded H2020 project which focuses on adaptive breeding for productive, sustainable and resilient forests under climate change.

In this issue we bring you up to date with project progress, and offer some highlights from our blog over the last year. Don't forget you can follow us on Twitter (@B4EST_EU) for regular updates!

The first EVOLTREE Conference, hosted by WSL Birmensdorf (Switzerland) from 14-17 September, 2021, focuses on the genomics and adaptation of trees and interacting species from evolutionary, demographic, and ecological perspectives.

Registration and abstract submission is now open! https://conf.wsl.ch/evoltree/

The B4EST consortium, in collaboration with EVOLTREE, is hosting a web conference from September 21-24, 2021. The course will present the latest extensions of Fisher’s infinitesimal model, in particular the omnigenic model and discuss their implications for breeding, association studies and evolutionary inferences.

The conference will take place via zoom https://uu-se.zoom.us/j/64413807543 To register please send and email to Martin Lascoux

2021

Tetiana Svystun, Jenny Lundströmer, Mats Berlin, Johan Westin, Anna Maria Jönsson. Model analysis of temperature impact on the Norway spruce provenance specific bud burst and associated risk of frost damage. Forest Ecology and Management, Volume 493, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119252. (also available via https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112721003406)

Hayatgheibi H, Haapanen M, Lundströmer J, Berlin M, Kärkkäinen K, Helmersson A. The Impact of Drought Stress on the Height Growth of Young Norway Spruce Full-Sib and Half-Sib Clonal Trials in Sweden and Finland. Forests. 2021; 12(4):498. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12040498

Serrano-León, Hernán; Ahtikoski, Anssi; Sonesson, Johan; Fady, Bruno; Lindner, Marcus; Meredieu, Céline; Raffin, Annie; Perret, Sandrine; Perot, Thomas; Orazio, Christophe (2021). From genetic gain to economic gain: simulated growth and financial performance of genetically improved Pinus sylvestris and Pinus pinaster planted stands in France, Finland and Sweden. Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, cpab015. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpab015

Tatiana A. Shestakova, Sven Mutke, Javier Gordo, J. Julio Camarero, Ester Sin, Jesús Pemán, Jordi Voltas. (2021). Weather as main driver for masting and stem growth variation in stone pine supports compatible timber and nut co-production. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Volumes 298–299, 2021, 108287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2020.108287

Skrøppa T. and Steffenrem A. (2021). Performance and Phenotypic Stability of Norway Spruce Provenances, Families, and Clones Growing under Diverse Climatic Conditions in Four Nordic Countries. Forests 2021, 12(2), 230. https://doi.org/10.3390/f12020230 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Genetic Resources and Adaptive Management of Conifers in a Changing World)

2020

Ahtikoski, A.; Ahtikoski, R.; Haapanen, M.; Hynynen, J.; Kärkkäinen, K. (2020). Economic Performance of Genetically Improved Reforestation Material in Joint Production of Timber and Carbon Sequestration: A Case Study from Finland. Forests, 11, 847. https://doi.org/10.3390/f11080847.

Anssi Ahtikoski, Jouni Karhu, Roope Ahtikoski, Matti Haapanen, Jari Hynynen. (2020) Financial assessment of alternative breeding goals using stand-level optimization and data envelopment analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, vol 35, 2020, issue 5-6. https://doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2020.1795241

J. Bartholomé, A. Mabiala, R. Burlett, D. Bert, J.‐C. Leplé, C. Plomion, J‐M. Gion. (2020). The pulse of the tree is under genetic control: eucalyptus as a case study. The Plant Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.14734

Sara Bergante, Gianni Facciotto, Maurizio Marchi. (2020) Growth dynamics of ‘Imola’ poplar clone (Populus ×canadensis Mönch) under different cultivation inputs. Annals of Silvicultural Research, [S.l.], v. 44, n. 2, p. 71-79, Apr. 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.12899/asr-1934.

Carolina Bernhardsson, Yanjun Zan, Zhiqiang Chen, Pär K. Ingvarsson, Harry X. Wu. (2020). Development of a highly efficient 50K SNP genotyping array for the large and complex genome of Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) by whole genome re‐sequencing and its transferability to other spruce species. Molecular Ecology Resources. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13292 

Hayatgheibi, H., Berlin M., Haapanen M., Kärkkäinen K., and Persson T. (2020). Application of Transfer Effect Models for Predicting Growth and Survival of Genetically Selected Scots Pine Seed Sources in Sweden. Forests, 2020, 11, 1337.  https://doi.org/10.3390/f11121337

Marchi, M., Castellanos-Acuña, D., Hamann, A., Wang, T., Ray, D., Menzel, A. (2020). ClimateEU, scale-free climate normals, historical time series, and future projections for Europe. Sci Data 7, 428. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00763-0

Eduardo Notivol, Luis Santos-del-Blanco, Regina Chambel, Jose Climent and Ricardo Alía. (2020). Seed Sourcing Strategies Considering Climate Change Forecasts: A Practical Test in Scots Pine. Forests 2020, 11(11), 1222. https://doi.org/10.3390/f11111222

Tore Skrøppa and Arne Steffenrem. (2020). Variation among and within provenances of Norway spruce from Trøndelag and Nordland. NIBIO Rapport, vol 6, nr 10. 

Natalia Vizcaíno-Palomar, Bruno Fady, Ricardo Alía, Annie Raffin, Sven Mutke, Marta Benito Garzón. (2020). The legacy of climate variability over the last century on populations’ phenotypic variation in tree height. Science of The Total Environment, Volume 749, 2020, 141454.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141454 (also available via ResearchGate)