Population-specific climate sensitive top height curves and their applications to assisted migration.

Growth and yield (G&Y) of forest plantations can be significantly impacted by maladaptation resulting from climate change, and assisted migration has been proposed to mitigate these impacts by restoring populations to their historic climates. However, genecology models currently used for guiding assisted migration do not account for impacts of climate change on cumulative growth and assume that responses of forest population to climate do not change with age. Using provenance trial data for interior lodgepole pine ( subsp.

Picturing local adaptation: Spectral and structural traits from drone remote sensing reveal clinal responses to climate transfer in common-garden trials of interior spruce (Picea engelmannii × glauca).

Common-garden trials of forest trees provide phenotype data used to assess growth and local adaptation; this information is foundational to tree breeding programs, genecology, and gene conservation. As jurisdictions consider assisted migration strategies to match populations to suitable climates, in situ progeny and provenance trials provide experimental evidence of adaptive responses to climate change. We used drone technology, multispectral imaging, and digital aerial photogrammetry to quantify spectral traits related to stress, photosynthesis, and carotenoids, and structural traits describing crown height, size, and complexity at six climatically disparate common-garden trials of interior spruce (Picea engelmannii × glauca) in western Canada.

Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequence of an Engelmann Spruce (, Genotype Se404-851) from Western Canada.

Engelmann spruce () is a conifer found primarily on the west coast of North America. Here, we present the complete chloroplast genome sequence of genotype Se404-851. This chloroplast sequence will benefit future conifer genomic research and contribute resources to further species conservation efforts.

Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequence of a White Spruce (Picea glauca, Genotype WS77111) from Eastern Canada.

Here, we present the complete chloroplast genome sequence of white spruce (, genotype WS77111), a coniferous tree widespread in the boreal forests of North America. This sequence contributes to genomic and phylogenetic analyses of the genus that are part of ongoing research to understand their adaptation to environmental stress.

Functions of stone cells and oleoresin terpenes in the conifer defense syndrome.

Conifers depend on complex defense systems against herbivores. Stone cells (SC) and oleoresin are physical and chemical defenses of Sitka spruce that have been separately studied in previous work. Weevil oviposit at the tip of the previous year's apical shoot (PYAS).

Function of Sitka spruce stone cells as a physical defence against white pine weevil.

Stone cells are a physical defence of conifers against stem feeding insects such as weevils and bark beetles. In Sitka spruce, abundance of stone cells in the cortex of apical shoot tips is associated with resistance to white pine weevil. However, the mode of action by which stone cells interfere with growth and development of weevil larvae is unknown.

Ectomycorrhizal fungal maladaptation and growth reductions associated with assisted migration of Douglas-fir.

Climatic adaptations are the foundation of conifer genecology, but populations also display variation in traits for nitrogen (N) utilization, along with some heritable specificity for ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF). We examined soil and EMF influences on assisted migration of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii) by comparing two contrasting maritime populations planted up to 400 km northward in southwestern British Columbia.

Adaptation and exogenous selection in a Picea glauca × Picea engelmannii hybrid zone: implications for forest management under climate change.

The nature of selection responsible for the maintenance of the economically and ecologically important Picea glauca × Picea engelmannii hybrid zone was investigated. Genomic, phenotypic and climatic data were used to test assumptions of hybrid zone maintenance and to model future scenarios under climate change. Genome-wide estimates of admixture based on a panel of 86 candidate gene single nucleotide polymorphisms were combined with long-term quantitative data on growth and survival (over 20 yr), as well as one-time assessments of bud burst and bud set phenology, and cold hardiness traits.