Forest genetic monitoring: an overview of concepts and definitions

Abstract

Safeguarding sustainability of forest ecosystems with their habitat variability and all their functions is of highest priority. Therefore, the long-term adaptability of forest ecosystems to a changing environment must be secured, e.g., through sustainable forest management. High adaptability is based on biological variation starting at the genetic level. Thus, the ultimate goal of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to halt the ongoing erosion of biological variation is of utmost importance for forest ecosystem functioning and sustainability. Monitoring of biological diversity over time is needed to detect changes that threaten these biological resources. Genetic variation, as an integral part of biological diversity, needs special attention, and its monitoring can ensure its effective conservation. We compare forest genetic monitoring to other biodiversity monitoring concepts. Forest genetic monitoring (FGM) enables early detection of potentially harmful changes of forest adaptability before these appear at higher biodiversity levels (e.g., species or ecosystem diversity) and can improve the sustainability of applied forest management practices and direct further research. Theoretical genetic monitoring concepts developed up to now need to be evaluated before being implemented on a national and international scale. This article provides an overview of FGM concepts and definitions, discusses their advantages and disadvantages, and provides a flow chart of the steps needed for the optimization and implementation of FGM. FGM is an important module of biodiversity monitoring, and we define an effective FGM scheme as consisting of an assessment of a forest population’s capacity to survive, reproduce, and persist under rapid environmental changes on a long-term scale.

Genetic Insights into Ecological Succession from Oak- (Quercus robur L.) to Beech- (Fagus sylvatica L.) Dominated Forest Stands

“…Monitoring genetic diversity of populations with the aid of genetic markers may provide important insights into the current status of populations (Schwartz et al, 2007;Fussi et al, 2016). Forest management may affect genetic diversity (Rajendra et al, 2014) and several studies were focused on the effect of forest management on genetic diversity (Buiteveld et al, 2007;Piotti et al, 2013;Ratnam et al, 2014;Westergren et al, 2015).…”

Genetic Diversity and Its Spatial Distribution in Self-Regenerating Norway Spruce and Scots Pine Stands

“…A spatially intermixed structure of the genetic clusters, which has obviously resulted from an intermixed gene inflow into the studied populations of regenerating juveniles of both tree species, was expected as both species are wind-pollinated and wind-dispersed. As a large number of plant population studies show the existence of significant positive correlations between population size, its fitness and within-population genetic variation [15], it can be expected that genetic diversity detected by us in the regenerating populations of Norway spruce and Scots pine will allow further formation of evolutionary and ecologically sound stands able to sustain species' adaptability and plasticity, population stability and overall ecosystem functionality (e.g., [26]). …”

“…Genetic monitoring which has been defined as "tracking of temporal changes in the genetic variation and structure of tree populations" is the only way to verify how well genetic diversity is maintained over time, and how this diversity is affected by climate change and forest management practices [23]. According to Fussi et al [26], there is a lack of experience regarding the evaluation of potential changes between assessments of genetic parameters (repeated genetic analysis of the same population in certain time intervals), although some ideas have been postulated, including the comparison to reference stands [27], interpretation of time series of genetic data [28], and comparison of different generations within stands [29][30][31].…”

Next‐generation metrics for monitoring genetic erosion within populations of conservation concern

“…Considering how marker sets and metrics should be developed and chosen, it is important to differentiate implementation needs for genetic monitoring from the development phase, identification of loci and testing of indicators (Fussi et al., ). Figure outlines the strategy and tool development phase (i): metrics and marker sets should be selected based on a dense marker analysis considering genomic (neutral and non‐neutral), phenotypic and environment information, allowing for the identification of management‐informative loci to address the key management questions concerning genetic erosion.…”