fir is native to North America and
has been used in British forestry for over 100 years. Demand is
rising rapidly and currently; we import much of our seed from the
USA or France and there is a need to develop a strain that is
specialised for British conditions.
For decades there have been incomplete attempts to develop
British fir seed sources suited to our
conditions, but now a government funded project led by the
Conifer Breeding Cooperative has overcome this and will grow the
next generation of fir from British tree seeds.
The project involved the selection of 200 visually superior trees
from the best fir plantations in Britain, as well
as 40 genetically superior trees from long-term experiments
managed by Forest Research.
This selection of outstanding firs will now be used by
the Conifer Breeding Cooperative and Forest Research as
breeding stock to produce British Fir seed. The chosen trees will be
copied by grafting cuttings onto rootstocks, after the grafted
plants will go into seed orchards. In several years,
once seeds are available, they will be supplied to forest
nurseries to grow the first genetically improved British fir trees.
Richard Whittet, Head of Tree Breeding at Forest Research
and Chair of the Conifer Breeding Cooperative,
said:
“We have selected a new generation of fir trees for breeding, based on
their adaptation to the British climate and timber properties
which is an important step forward for the resilience of our
nation's trees.
“This achievement is the result of decades of work by Forest
Research and our domestic and international partners.
Collaboration has enabled us to get things done on the ground and
harness new technologies, such as the low-cost DNA marker array
for quality assurance.”
Sir William Worsley, Chair of the Forestry Commission,
said:
“We are facing a changing climate and biodiversity decline,
with trees playing a significant role in mitigating some of the
worst impacts.
“We rely too heavily on timber imports in the UK and if we are to
strengthen own domestic supply then this type of science will
play a huge role in the future. Therefore, there has never been a
more crucial time to invest in domestic tree-planting”.
A DNA fingerprint – which shows the genetic make-up of each tree
– has also been taken of each tree by Oxford
University. This is the first time this technique has been
used at such an early stage of a tree breeding programme in Great
Britain. The DNA fingerprint is used as a quality-control tool to
track and evaluate the tree's parentage and enable traceability.
This important data will help advance the project.
fir is a desirable timber-producing
tree for Britain and this step forward to develop a resilient
British population will ensure better yield for our domestic
timber industry. Fast growing conifers such at this sequester
carbon more quickly than slower growing species. Using
timber in construction, in place of other non-renewable
materials, is one of the best ways to reduce emissions from
buildings. It also ensures that carbon is locked up long-term.
Today's development will help bolster the domestic timber
industry as part of the Government's critical mission to make the
UK clean energy superpower and ensure we are resilient to a
changing climate. This is the latest government innovation in the
fight to protect our nation's trees and woodlands.
The project partners involved are Conifer Breeding Coop,
University of Oxford, and Forestart and it has been funded by the
Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
Additional Information:
- The trials were first established in the 1990s as part of a
European Commission project with several international partners
including Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium
