Posted: June 26, 2023
Leites talk "The role of provenance trials and common gardens in understanding intraspecific genetic variation in responses to a changing climate" reflected on the importance of recovering and reanalyzing data from old forestry provenance trials to advance our understanding of intraspecific variation and guide seed movement under a changing climate.
Abstract:
At a time when genomics and advanced new technologies propel our knowledge of forest tree species adaptation to climate, provenance trials and common gardens remain the gold standard to understand intraspecific variation related to climate and to quantify both genetic variation and phenotypic plasticity in forest tree species. Furthermore, the combination of genomics with these field experiments can help uncover how evolutionary processes shape genomes and adaptive strategies to climate. In this talk, I will summarize the legacy of forestry provenance trials on our current understanding of ecological genetics in forest tree species, and discuss common experimental designs and traits measured. I will describe how data from old provenance trials have been reanalyzed to anticipate species responses to climate change, and offer perspectives on current needs for the establishment of new provenance trials and common gardens. Finally, I will discuss how these field experiments are critical to inform the delineation of climate-smart seed zones.
Read more about the conference here: https://sftic.ornl.gov/
