I wanted to introduce the idea of keeping a genetic record for the young forests that will be managed in New York State. I think it is a great idea and will provide for a sound basis to the future.
It is always good to meet with colleagues from other states and countries. While their ideas may not be workable for every forest, it is always interesting to hear from others in how they see themselves protecting species and managing their forests.
"The basis of resilience in forest species and it's use in adaptive forest management in Britain."
By S. Cavers and J.E. Cottrell
Forestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, Volume 88, Issue 1, January 2015, Pages 13–2625 July 2014
Britain's forest genetic resources (click here) are currently facing an unprecedented period of uncertainty due to the effects of climate change and increased exposure to new pests and diseases from global trade (Gilligan et al., 2013). Rather than tackle each new threat as it arises, it would be much more cost-effective to manage forests to promote their resilience, allowing them to change and adapt to new pressures. In this position paper, we discuss the theory that underpins the concept of resilience in general and then focus on the implications for British forest ecosystems in particular. As individual forest ecosystems in Britain contain relatively few tree species, we outline the important role of intra-specific genetic diversity in conferring resilience via evolutionary processes and discuss the major drivers of these processes. Finally, we outline the current policy and practice for managing the British forest genetic resource and discuss the conflicts and tensions in developing appropriate policy in the face of an uncertain future....
