Seeing trees and forests for the future: assessment of trade-offs and potentials to breed and manage forests to meet sustainability goals
Coordinator: Katri Kärkkäinen, Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Finland
katri.karkkainen (at) luke.fi
Other partners: LV, NO, SE
Duration: 2022-2025 (to be confirmed)
Project objective: Assess4EST will use novel genomic breeding tools and introduce new features to national growth and yield simulators to assess possibilities to combine sustainability goals in forest management by studying the impacts of genetic variation in the regeneration methods: even-aged planting with advanced generation improved material vs. natural regeneration in even and uneven aged stands. The project will concentrate on assessing traits important for sustainability goals: growth, increasing resilience and adaptability of forests to rapid climate change, as well as wood quality suitable for products that store carbon and substitute more emission-intensive and non-renewable products.