Second EVOLTREE Conference 2023 RESILIENT FORESTS FOR THE FUTURE
Brasov, Romania 12-15 September 2023

Sessions & Keynote

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  Session 1: Climate resilient forests

  Chair: Dr. Katharina Birgit Budde, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany

  Keynote speaker: Associate Professor Dr. Jill Hamilton, Pennsylvania State University, USA

  Title of presentation: Hybrid zones as model systems to examine the genomic basis for climate adaptation

  Trees are foundation and keystone species in forest ecosystems and contribute to numerous ecosystem services, such as habitat for associated species, soil formation and water regulation but also timber products. Global climate change is rapidly advancing, especially with respect to long-lived species, such as forest trees. Within the lifetime of a single tree, mean annual temperature is currently expected to rise by 2 -4°C. Apart from that, natural disturbance events, such as prolonged drought periods, heat waves, wind throws, as well as pest and pathogen outbreaks, are likely increasing. Here, resilience refers to the capacity of a forest ecosystem to tolerate and recover from such perturbations while maintaining a similar functioning and structure. Many factors, including species-specific characteristics, biotic interactions as well as management practices, influence forest resilience. Understanding the complex underlying mechanisms and processes affecting forest resilience is therefore crucial to develop suitable mitigation and adaptation strategies. In this interdisciplinary session we encourage contributions from various fields, such as forest genetics and genomics, silviculture, ecology and pathology, to foster a joint discussion about strategies to maintain and enhance forest resilience in the face of global climate change.

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  Session 2: Tree genomics & biotic interactions under climate change

  Chair: Dr. Hilke Schröder, the Thünen Institute, Germany

  Keynote speaker: Professor Nathan G. Swenson, University of Notre Dame, USA

  Title of presentation: Functional genomics as a window into the drivers community structure and dynamics in temperate and tropical forests

  Neither individuals, nor populations or species exist on its own. We already know that since centuries. But, we first needed the tools to analyse ecosystems as a single entity. During the last decades, scientists all around the world analysed parts of communities as host-parasite interactions or fungal communities and its impact on host species. And so, step by step we move closer to the goal of analysing whole communities. When Whitham adopted the concept of the “extended phenotype”, he developed a framework for community and ecosystem genetics that led us the way. Community genetics already focus on multiple species rather than on individuals or populations. Now, with the opportunity to use genomics tools, we can go ahead the next (hopefully big) step to analyse communities. In this session, we welcome studies dealing with the analysis of communities using any kind of next generation sequencing methods.

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  Session 3: Evolutionary genomics

  Chair: Dr. Annika Perry, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK

  Keynote speaker: Dr. Brandon Lind, The University of British Columbia, Canada

  Title of presentation: Using genomics to predict maladaptation to future climates

  The use of genomic data to study evolutionary processes has advanced our understanding of adaptation and in turn has significant implications for the management and conservation of forest trees, their associated organisms, and hence entire forest ecosystems in a changing climate. However, it is important to consider the many underlying complexities (such as gene flow, drift, demographic processes, biotic interactions) as well as the inherent uncertainties in these systems which can impact the interpretation of results from these approaches. In this session we will explore evolutionary genomics methods which have revealed how species and populations are shaped by selection and how this knowledge can be used to inform forest management practices and to forecast changes in forest dynamics. We welcome genomic studies which provide insight into these topics – whether applying phenotype and/or climate data, using practical or simulated experiments.

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  Session 4: Innovative methods and approaches

  Chair: Dr. Christian Rellstab, WSL, Switzerland

  Keynote speaker: Prof. Dr. Meredith Christine Schuman, University of Zurich, Switzerland

  Title of presentation: Leveraging remote sensing to support assessment of genetic variation in beech forests

  This session will discuss innovations which promise to support forest resilience. These may include the active management of biodiversity, from genomes and epigenomes to species and their interaction; optical and chemical remote sensing technologies; smart sensors; interactions with local communities; management of soil health; monitoring schemes; and policy-relevant action.

   

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  Session 5: Conservation genomics

  Chair: Prof. Dr. F.A. (Phil) Aravanopoulos, University of Thessaloniki, Greece

  Keynote speaker:  Ivan Scotti, INRAE, France

  Title of presentation: Resilience: can we define it in an evolutionary framework?

  The transition from the Holocene to Anthropocene and from climatic change to climatic crisis, fuels the frequency and intensity of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. In turn, they lead to major threats regarding the sustainability and functioning of forest ecosystems and the services they provide. Extant genetic diversity is paramount for determining future adaptive potential; it provides the raw material for evolution. Hence, the conservation of genetic diversity is more important than ever, while the means to do so are probably better than before with the advent of genomic (and epigenomic) approaches. In concordance to the Conference Theme, this Session will address how conservation genomics can improve resilience. In particular, the Session aims to highlight research on the challenges and applications of population-level conservation genomics, and focus on issues such as understanding the extend, structure and patterns of genomic diversity, identifying islands of high or low genomic diversity, pinpointing signals of local adaptation, and providing improved estimations of effective population size.

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  Session 6: Tree breeding and sustainable use of forest genetic resources

  Chair: Associate Professor Dr. Ole Kim Hansen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

  Keynote speaker: Leopoldo Sánchez-Rodríguez, INRAE, France

  Title of presentation: B4EST: a collaborative research effort on adaptive BREEDING for productive, sustainable and resilient FORESTs under climate change

  Tree breeding has a proven track-record of delivering increased forest productivity and wood quality. However, climate change calls for more focus on breeding for resistance to biotic and abiotic stress factors – e.g., new pests and drought. To create new resilient forests, introduction of new species is an evident option. Tree breeders should breed those species with novel approaches and methods, as there will not be resources and time to establish traditional breeding programs for all. Global plans for a huge increase in afforestation stresses the need to exploit existing breeding program and seed sources, to cover the increased demand for forest reproductive material. There will also be a demand for tree genetic knowledge in the management of existing forest to bring them through the transition phase of the climate change and preparing them for the future. We welcome contributions that cover the above-mentioned issues or can be related to these.

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  Programme

  Downloadable programme including the programme for each session 

  (PDF for download)

Program

Second EVOLTREE Conference - Programme (PDF) (update 7 September).

Organization

Organizing committee (contact us if you have questions, lucian.curtu@unitbv.ro):

Alexandru Lucian Curtu, UNITBV

Elena Ciocirlan, UNITBV

Nicolae Sofletea, UNITBV

Scientific committee:

Prof. Dr. F.A. (Phil) Aravanopoulos, University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Dr. Katharina Birgit Budde, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany

Prof. Dr. Alexandru Lucian Curtu, Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania

Dr. Felix Gugerli, WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Associate Professor Dr. Ole Kim Hansen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Dr. Annika Perry, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK

Dr. Christian Rellstab, WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Dr. Hilke Schröder, the Thünen Institute, Germany

Evoltree Working Group "Biannual Evoltree Conference"

Prof. Dr. Alexandru Lucian Curtu, Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania

Dr. Felix Gugerli, WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland (head)

Prof. Dr. Katrin Heer, Albert-Ludwigs Universität Freiburg, Germany

Dr. Miran Lanšćak, Croatian Forest Research Institute, Jastrebarsko, Croatia

Dr. Sanna Olsson, INIA Madrid, Spain

Dr. Annika Perry, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh, UK

Prof. Dr. Tanja Pyhäjärvi, University of Helsinki, Finland

Dr. Christian Rellstab, WSL Birmensdorf, Switzerland

Dr. Nataša Šibanc, Slovenian Forestry Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Dr. Giovanni Giuseppe Vendramin, CNR-IBBR, Florence, Italy