Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference Proceedings (29th), Held in Galveston, TX., on June 19-22, 2007. Tree Improvement in North America: Past, Present, and Future: WFGA/SFTIC Joint Meeting

摘要

The first ever, joint meeting of the Southern Forest Tree Improvement Conference and the Western Forest Genetics Association, was held June 19-22 in Galveston, TX. This meeting, the 29th SFTIC and the 51st gathering of the WFGA, focused on our shared history, compared and contrasted present strategies and attempted to chart our collective futures. Invited speakers for the opening session included James B. Hull who addressed the changing face of forestry in Texas and the nation, Steven McKeand and Glenn Howe who spoke on the history of tree improvement in the southeast and the Pacific Northwest, respectively and Bradley St. Clair who outlined novel uses of tree improvement data to address climate change issues. During the final plenary session, John Helms addressed the rapidly changing social environment in which foresters must function, Robert Kellison and Adam Costanza each spoke about the adoption of forest biotechnology, and Clark Binkley addressed the valuation and impact of forestry research. During the intervening two days of concurrent sessions, participants were privileged to hear 52 contributed papers and view 11 posters on topics that included selection, progeny testing, marker aided breeding, genetic diversity and gene conservation, physiology, and climate change as well as a variety of other topics. Two changes were made to accommodate the different meeting styles of the two groups. Publication of papers and extended abstracts was optional. Articles submitted by their authors for publication at the time of the meeting are included in the first part of this proceeding. A complete set of pre-meeting abstracts are included as a separate section. The second change was that the two groups combined awards for outstanding contributions to the conference. All participants were eligible regardless of their affiliation.