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Since the nineteenth century, Douglas-fir seed sources have been widely used for establishment of forest stands outside its natural distribution range. In Europe, some of these old Douglas-fir stands are registered as seed stands and provide seed sources for nurseries, although it is unclear from which region in North America they originate. In rec...
Citations
... Based on their genetic, morphological or physiological population characteristics, ecological adaptation models predict best performing provenances and thereby support the delineation of seed zones that are suitable for reforestation and restoration management [14,24]. Different modelling approaches have been used for such purposes, including purely generic clustering [22,25], climate envelope models (e.g. [14]), transfer functions (e.g. ...
... While this indicated as a global optimum without any clusters, the gap statistics identifies a local maximum at ten clusters. We conducted our analysis towards two different ways for validation: (1) the SVC matrix was clustered into six ecotypes to quantify the proposed method with the (2) We examined higher resolved ecotypes based on the suggested ten clusters to qualitatively validate these with recent evidence of smaller-scale DNA classes ( [14,25,56], e.g.). We will discuss the results of the qualitative validation, while corresponding figures can be found in the supplementary information (SI, Qualitative validation of ten ecotypes). ...
... Assigning Douglas-fir populations in their distribution area in North America to six different response groups, ecotypes exhibit different responses characteristics to climate effects, presumably having different climate optima. Quantification of the geographic distribution of the identified ecotypes showed overlap with available large-scale DNA regions to some degree, while qualitative comparison with finer resolved and genetically analysed provenance regions implies ecotypic and genotypic similarities [14,25,56]. The results suggest that ecologically induced intra-specific variation in (unobserved) occurrencerelated traits, as well as an increased intra-variety differentiation, potentially hybrids, found in transition zones ( [57,58], p. 38) can be detected in a first screening step with a climate-based, local modelling approach to provenance outlining. ...
Background
Selection of climate-change adapted ecotypes of commercially valuable species to date relies on DNA-assisted screening followed by growth trials. For trees, such trials can take decades, hence any approach that supports focussing on a likely set of candidates may save time and money. We use a non-stationary statistical analysis with spatially varying coefficients to identify ecotypes that indicate first regions of similarly adapted varieties of Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco) in North America. For over 70,000 plot-level presence-absences, spatial differences in the survival response to climatic conditions are identified.
Results
The spatially-variable coefficient model fits the data substantially better than a stationary, i.e. constant-effect analysis (as measured by AIC to account for differences in model complexity). Also, clustering the model terms identifies several potential ecotypes that could not be derived from clustering climatic conditions itself. Comparing these six identified ecotypes to known genetically diverging regions shows some congruence, as well as some mismatches. However, comparing ecotypes among each other, we find clear differences in their climate niches.
Conclusion
While our approach is data-demanding and computationally expensive, with the increasing availability of data on species distributions this may be a useful first screening step during the search for climate-change adapted varieties. With our unsupervised learning approach being explorative, finely resolved genotypic data would be helpful to improve its quantitative validation.
... A genomics-enabled traceability tool incorporating a panel of highly informative genetic markers that provide fast, inexpensive, and scalable genotyping to track oak products in Canada could be used in the taxonomic identification and detection of oaks at the species level, and potentially their geographic origin. Forensic tools have already been developed for valuable timber species using a set of SNPs to determine the species identity (Pakull et al. 2019;Dormontt et al. 2020;Honorio Coronado et al. 2020;Paredes-Villanueva et al. 2020) and provenance of origin (Hintsteiner et al. 2018;Blanc-Jolivet et al. 2018;Tysklind et al. 2019;Hartvig et al. 2020;Peery et al. 2022) of the harvested timber materials. Such genomic markers based on a small number of genetic variants have the advantage of being fast, inexpensive, can be developed in large numbers (Blanc-Jolivet et al. 2017), and are suitable for low concentration, degraded DNA extracts (Ogden et al. 2009). ...
To preserve biodiversity and maintain ecosystem services provided by trees in the course of climate change, it is essential to consider challenging tree species, which are less studied primarily due to a lack of investment compared to commercial species. Species of the genus Quercus present an interesting case because of their economic and ecological importance, and their syngameon biology. As a model for exploring ecological diversification, and with recent advances in forest genomics, knowledge, data, and genomic resources for oak have accumulated and are summarized in this review to foster oaks as potential candidate species for future reforestation programs in Canadian natural, peri-urban, and urban ecosystems. We summarize the state of current genomic research in oak and the accompanying opportunities genomics can provide to achieve the potential of oak silviculture in Canada. Further, we highlight the socio-economic benefits of planting oaks and genomic tools for the development of a traceability system along the value chain. Finally, we discuss some of the remaining challenges to successfully integrate oaks into different forest management programs. In light of their increased drought resistance, oak species exhibit a strong potential as viable choices for future forests, resilient agricultural landscapes, and urban areas. By leveraging the progress made in oak genomics and the new applications that have been developed for commercial species, we can foster the successful management of oak genetic resources for the production of suitable seedlings, thereby aiding Canada in its ambitious pursuit of planting two billion trees to combat climate change.
... Hence, an important step is to exactly track the origin of the planting materials and to assess the genetic diversity and structure in plantation populations (Thomas et al. 2014). With the development of restoration genetics, assessing genetic diversity and differentiation of plantations by comparing with natural populations can help to trace the origin of plantations effectively, select suitable seed source and measure the success of restoration activities (Williams et al. 2014;Hintsteiner et al. 2018;Santini et al. 2018;Jordan et al. 2019;Pettenkofer et al. 2019;Prasetyo et al. 2020). However, the genetic data is inadequate for numerous tree species currently used in forest plantations (Thomas et al. 2014;Yin et al. 2022;Zhou et al. 2022a). ...
... Due to the high polymorphism and cost-effectiveness, microsatellite markers (SSRs) have been increasingly used not only for tracking the origin of plantations but also in the genetic assessment of forest restoration programs (Hintsteiner et al. 2018;Santini et al. 2018;Pettenkofer et al. 2020;Kembrytė et al. 2021;Kavaliauskas et al. 2021;Zhou et al. 2022a). Recently, we developed a set of nuclear microsatellite markers for T. cryptomerioides and successfully amplified in 79 individuals from four natural populations in China (Qin et al. 2021). ...
... These populations were also mainly assigned to NWLg and QQ of Yunnan in GENECLASS. However, individuals would be assigned to a common cluster in the situation of limited reference populations, and the accuracy of assignment is affected by many factors, such as the level of genetic differentiation, the number of loci and their diagnostic power, and the size of reference populations (Hintsteiner et al. 2018). There is no historical record of the seed sources and origin for these populations. ...
Understanding the genetic diversity and origin of plantations will support the genetic monitoring and provenance selection in restoration projects and help to enhance the adaptation and resilience of plantation forests under climate change. However, information on the origin and genetic variation for plantations with native tree species is inadequate. Taiwania cryptomerioides Hayata is a threatened tree species and has been used as an important tree species for plantation in montane areas of South China. Information on the genetic diversity and origin of the existing Taiwania plantations is needed to facilitate their further development. In this study, using 12 nuclear microsatellite markers, the genetic diversity and structure were investigated in seven previously assumed natural populations and 19 plantation populations of T. cryptomerioides in South China. The Taiwania plantations showed lower genetic diversity and closer genetic distance than natural populations, indicating that most plantations were established with a narrow genetic basis. The results revealed that the majority of Taiwania plantations originated from two areas of the species’ natural distribution: northwestern Yunnan and southeastern Guizhou. Interestingly, we found that part of plantations in western Yunnan might represent unique genetic resources. Finally, conservation strategies of germplasm resources and genetic guidelines for seed sourcing of T. cryptomerioides are recommended. This study could facilitate the sustainable development of Taiwania plantations and also serve as a valuable reference for plantation management in China and elsewhere. We suggest that genetic monitoring of plantation forests should be considered in future restoration programs.
... The natural distribution of Douglas fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] in North-Western America extends from British Columbia to northern Mexico, covering a wide latitudinal (55°-18°) and elevational range (from sea level to 3260 m) (Kleinschmit and Bastien 1992;Hintsteiner et al. 2018;Neophytou et al. 2020; Thomas et al. 2022). Douglas fir grows on a wide range of site conditions in its natural area. ...
... menziesii var. lindleyana) Wei et al. 2011;Adams and Stoehr 2013;Van Loo et al. 2015Hintsteiner et al. 2018; Thomas et al. 2022). In addition, other authors described the grey Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. ...
... Douglas fir, due to its growth potential, robustness and timber quality and high productivity, was introduced to many countries worldwide (United Kingdom, fifteen European Countries, Turkey, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina), often showing performances superior to indigenous species (Neophytou et al. 2016;Hintsteiner et al. 2018;Thomas et al. 2022;Zeidler et al. 2022). The coastal Douglas fir has been introduced to Europe, first to England in 1827, and some decades later to Italy in 1882, in "Pinetum" Arboretum near Florence, and to France, Germany, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Poland. ...
In IUFRO experimental plots of 1969–1970, two 'Italian' provenances, I11 and I15, of unknown genetic origins, have consistently exhibited remarkable performance and stability over time and space in previous studies. It was deemed essential to acquire knowledge about the genetic origin area and conduct a genetic characterization of these two Italian provenances for their formal registration. Considering the observed intraspecific genetic variation across the American geographic cline, it was imperative to ensure that the selected provenances adequately represented diverse eco-physiological regions within the species range. To achieve this, most likely American provenances were selected, building upon historical document hypotheses and aiming to cover various geo-climatic areas. Specifically, five coastal variety and three interior variety provenances were chosen, two for each major geo-climatic region. The results obtained, using seven microsatellites, through four genetic structure analysis methods, predominantly attributed I11 to the area around 1080 origin, Washington Cascades region and 1094, Oregon Coast area. Similarly, I15 was primarily attributed to the area around the 1096 provenances, the Oregon Cascades region, compared to other coastal areas it appeared to differ. Among the three interior origins, 1162 from Arizona, Interior South area, exhibited intermediate genetic characteristics between the two varieties, despite its geographical location falling within the range of the interior variety. Similar to our expectations, comparing the distinct characteristics of the origin areas for each Italian provenance, it becomes feasible to complete their certification as 'seed stands' and to plan an appropriate management strategy for the species' diffusion.
... Douglas fir was introduced to Europe around 1820, while it is originally from the East coast of the United States up to Canada. Hintsteiner [51] compared the 13 nuSSR loci from Douglas fir to pinpoint the origin of several stands of Douglas fir across Europe and found most of them to originate from the same strand from central Washington. Since this strand is the recommended provenance for Douglas fir acorns still today, trees grown from this seed are the most likely to adapt to the European climate while not changing much, therefore remaining similar to trees that would be grown in Washington. ...
Intraspecific macromolecule variation in stemwood, knotwood, and branchwood was studied using analytical pyrolysis with the intention of introducing a rapid working method to assess the variance in lignin content using analytical pyrolysis and highlight variability markers. The study was performed on Picea abies, Abies alba, and Pseudotsuga menziesii. Lignin determined via analytical pyrolysis–GC/MS (Py-lignin) can be used to identify variations in lignin content, compared to using classical Klason lignin values as a reference method for lignin determination, which requires a correction factor. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to identify biopolymer pyrolysis product markers for different species, tissues, or heights that could help highlight structural differences. Douglas fir was differentiated from spruce and silver fir in the levoglucosan amount. Guaiacol was more present in spruce wood, and creosol was more present in Douglas fir. Knotwood was structurally close to stemwood in spruce and silver fir, but there was a clear transition between stemwood and branchwood tissue in Douglas fir. Knotwood was differentiated by higher furan compounds. Branchwood was clearly separate from stemwood and knotwood and presented the same markers as compression wood in the form of phenylpropanoid lignins (H-lignin) as well as isoeugenol and vinyl guaiacol, the two most produced lignin pyrolysis products.
... This is because including data from the natural range of an invasive species can introduce more bias than not including them. Many studies in forestry, evolutionary biology and biogeography have shown that species exhibit greater variability within their natural ranges than in the areas of introduction or invasion (Dar et al., 2020;Hintsteiner et al., 2018;Neophytou et al., 2020;van Loo et al., 2019). This is because only part of the gene pool is transferred to new areas during migration, and the genetic variability of natural populations is spatially distributed and subject to long-term environmental selection pressures. ...
Alien tree species are considered both a threat to nature conservation and a base for forest management. We compiled species occurrences from biodiversity databases, forest inventories, and literature data. We modeled the availability of potential niches using the MaxEnt method and bioclimatic variables for current conditions, 2041–2060, and 2061–2080 periods. We used four climate scenarios: SSP126, SSP245, SSP370, and SSP485. The results confirm our hypotheses that, (i) coniferous species will contract, and deciduous trees will expand their climatic niche, (ii) a significant part of the areas where the studied species currently occur will be outside their climatic optimum in the coming decades; (iii) changes in the climatic optimum distribution will be greater in the 2041–2060 period than in 2061–2080. These predicted shifts are relevant for evidence-based management in sites already occupied by the studied alien trees. Our results are also relevant to the development of prevention and early detection measures in areas predicted to become climatically suitable for the studied species.
... Both coastal and interior varieties have been introduced to Europe, New Zealand, and South America since the 1800s and the coastal provenances consistently performed better than the interior ones (Cafourek 2001;Dungey et al. 2012;Hermann 1987;INFOR 2003;Kleinschmit and Bastien 1992;Konnert and Ruetz 2006;Low et al. 2012aLow et al. , 2012bPetkova et al. 2014;Rehfeltd and Gallo 2001;Simberloff et al. 2003). The interior variety, from the drier eastern side of the distribution range in the Northwest of the United States, is drought-tolerant (Joly et al. 1989;Kavanagh et al. 1999;Pharis and Ferrell 1966), but it is not commonly planted because of its low growth and pest susceptibility (Bastien et al. 2013;Boyle 1999;Hintsteiner et al. 2018). ...
We evaluated the potential of 19 provenances of the coastal variety of Douglas-fir for commercial plantation development in Southern Chile. Seedlings from 668 families were planted in two trials differing in site preparation and previous land use conditions. Height (H), diameter at breast height (DBH), stem volume index (VOL), and survival (SUR) were measured on all trees at the age of 10 years. Provenances from west of the Cascade Crest in Washington and Oregon performed the best at both sites, whereas provenances from east of the Cascade Crest were among the worst. Differences among provenances were not large and average H, DBH, VOL, and SUR across all provenances were 7.3 m, 11.9 cm, 0.06 m3, and 82%, respectively. The results indicate good potential of the species at sites in Southern Chile characterized by high levels of precipitation. Seed sources from coastal Washington and Oregon could provide appropriate planting material under current climate conditions.
Study Implications: This study examined the performance in growth and survival of different provenances of Douglas-fir with the intention to inform foresters which are the most appropriate provenances for planting activities. The provenances tested had an average survival of 82%. Provenances originating from west of the Cascade Crest in Washington and Oregon were the best performing provenances in the study area and can be used as planting material for the establishment of large-scale plantations.
... The findings on Douglas-fir in the present study, however, contrast with Santantonio and Hermann (1985), who studied mature Douglas-fir stands and found an increase in T on the site exposed to frequent droughts. It may be that in our study even the northern sites were not stressful enough for Douglasfir to trigger changes in T since in its natural environment, Douglas-fir grows on a wide range of sites and has adapted to various climatic conditions (Hintsteiner et al. 2018). In the southern stands of the present study a decrease in T with increasing beech APA was observed. ...
It is already well known that the effects of tree diversity on aboveground wood productivity depend on tree species identity and site conditions and thus can vary among different tree mixtures and forest sites. The effects of species diversity, specifically on belowground productivity and dynamics, have rarely been studied, so potential interactions with species identity and/or site conditions are largely unknown.Sequential soil coring was applied in mature pure and mixed stands of European beech, Norway spruce, and Douglas-fir in two regions of northern Germany to investigate the potential site, species, and mixing effects on fine root productivity, mortality, and turnover rates. In these ecologically and economically important species mixtures, a strong effect of site conditions on all fine root variables was found. In particular, more fine root growth was observed at the less favorable site conditions than at the more favorable ones. Species identity and interaction between site conditions and species identity were additional explanatory factors, whereat beech showed the strongest effect by site conditions. No overyielding was observed when fine root productivity was plotted against area potentially available (APA), nor were mortality or turnover. However, at specific soil depths, a mixing effect, caused mainly by beech, was observed for all variables and for both species mixtures.This study suggests that site conditions and species identity rather than species mixture are essential in explaining fine root dynamics and that increasing tree species diversity may not guarantee higher belowground productivity. However, in the face of climate change and the demand for wood as a natural and renewable resource, an admixture of Douglas-fir to pure European beech stands seems to be a reasonable alternative to an admixture of spruce, a species that is already seriously suffering by drought and bark beetle attacks.
... Simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers are widely used in plant research, including population genetic diversity, genetic structure, traceability, domestication history analysis, etc. The reliable results of genetic variation of the natural population of Teak in India (Balakrishnan et al. 2021), genetic diversity and ancestral origin of Mediterranean Olive tree (Sales et al. 2021), seed sources of Douglas fir in Central Europe (Hintsteiner et al. 2018), genetic structure and domestication history of Chinese Cherry (Zhang et al. 2018) demonstrated the accuracy and rationality of SSR markers. ...
Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis Carr.) is an important ecological and timber coniferous species endemic to China. In northern China, there are vast areas of plantations and natural forests of Chinese pine, but it is unclear the genetic diversity, genetic structure, and germplasm sources of artificial populations, as well as the genetic relationship between them. Here, using nine nuclear simple sequence repeats markers, we analyzed 1310 individuals representing 38 populations of main natural and artificial populations in northern China (Shanxi, Hebei, and Liaoning provinces). The results suggested that the population from “Taiyueshan” was the core of the natural populations of Shanxi Province. We found that there were geographical effects among Chinese pine populations, and there was a relatively stronger gene flow among Chinese pine populations with close distances (between natural and artificial populations). We confirmed that most of the germplasm of the plantation populations of Hebei and Liaoning probably came from the Shanxi natural populations, and the new adaptive variations and the strong gene flow “driving force” from local natural populations had brought the opportunity for Shanxi germplasm to invade Hebei and Liaoning provinces successfully. Our findings provide a theoretical basis for the scientific allocation, management, and utilization of Chinese pine germplasm resources and promote the efficient cultivation of artificial populations.
... Later, the development of nuclear microsatellite markers (Slavov et al. 2004) allowed their application for Communicated by Oliver Gailing. variety discrimination and the detection of genetic variation within the natural ranges of both varieties (Hintsteiner et al. 2018;Neophytou et al. 2020;van Loo et al. 2015). The cited studies showed a clear genetic separation between the green/coastal and blue/interior varieties based on 13 SSR markers. ...
Adult individuals and seeds of two mixed stands of coastal and interior Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) were analysed for genetic differentiation between the two varieties and evidence of intervarietal pollination. Clear genetic discrimination between the two varieties was observed based on multilocus evaluation of nine microsatellite markers using other Douglas-fir stands of known variety composition for comparison. Analysis of pollination distances showed that 80% of pollinations took place within a distance of about 44–55 m. Analysis of stand structure showed clearly separated areas of mainly coastal or interior Douglas-fir within both stands. Together with short pollination distances this led to an apparent dominance of intravarietal pollinations. However, analysis of pollination partners of trees growing near the border of the variety specific areas, does not indicate the existence of reproductive barriers between trees of the two varieties growing in mixed stands. Therefore, commercial seed harvesting in mixed stands should be avoided if the production of seed lots of pure coastal or interior Douglas-fir is intended.
