Canadian scientists use genomics to design healthier forests
Natural selection creates trees less vulnerable to pests; genomics helps identify them
British Columbia, Canada and Alberta plant roughly 150 million new spruce and lodgepole pine trees each year.
But some of those seedlings might have come from parents that didn’t survive the mountain pine beetle infestation or that might otherwise be less adaptable to the stresses of climate change.
In an attempt to grow a new generation of trees that can cope better with higher temperatures and pests, Genome BC and the universities of British Columbia and Alberta are working on AdapTree, a project that uses genotyping and climate-change mapping to improve forest health in a world of rapidly changing climates.
AdapTree is just one of about 19 forestry-related projects that Genome BC has been funding – to the tune of about C$77 million (US$60 million) – that uses genotyping to improve tree and forest health.
Scientists on the AdapTree project use genotyping to identify parents that are already naturally selected to stand a better chance of surviving environmental challenges like drought and pests, and climate-change mapping to identify regions where they would be best suited to grow.
“In the case of forestry and AdapTree, [they’re] developing tools to plant the right tree at the right place and at the right moment,” said Genome BC’s chief science officer, Catalina Lopez-Correa.