Numerous researchers from EVOLTREE partner institutions attended the 2019 IUFRO Congress in Brazil recently.
They were among the 2500 scientists who travelled from 92 countries to discuss forestry and forest research at the congress, including forest tree genetics and genomics and contributed mostly to the Sessions organised by IUFRO Division 2 (Physiology and Genetics).
OPPORTUNITY grant holder from INIA, Spain, José Alberto Ramírez-Valiente, gave an excellent oral communication about genetic adaptation at early-life stages in Scots pine.
A number of Technical Sessions and a Subplenary Session were also organised and chaired or co-chaired by EVOLTREE researchers, including:
B2a (Sub-plenary Session): Trees on the move: range shifts, potential for genetic adaptation and assisted migration
B1e (Technical Session): Trees on the move: seed sourcing, germination, genetic adaptation and assisted migration in a changing climate
B2c (Technical Session): Novel advances in genomics and tree breeding for sustainable forests
C2d (Technical Session): Tree Genomics and Biotechnology
D2a (Technical Session): Applied genetics for forest management and conservation
D2b (Technical Session): Conservation, Domestication and breeding of native species
Some important issues were discussed and decisions made at the Division 2 Administrative meeting, including the replacement of about 1/3 of Officeholders, to improve gender balance and geographical representation (the process is still open and candidatures are welcome).
During the meeting, the Division 2 Best Poster Award was given to Masakazu G. Iwaizumi, from the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Ibaraki, Japan, for his remarkable work on geographic clines in genetic diversity and variation in adaptive traits of Pinus densiflora and Pinus thunbergii, two major pine species in Japan. You can read and download Mr. Iwaizumi poster here.
Dr. Cristiano Vernesi, from Fondazione Edmund Mach, closed the Administrative Meeting with his presentation about the new COST ACTION, ‘G-BIKE: Genomic BIodiversity Knowledge for Resilient Ecosystems’, which aims to integrate genetic and evolutionary knowledge into conservation planning policies.
At the IUFRO Board meeting that took place during this event, EVOLTREE Coordinator, Dr. Santiago C. González-Martínez, was nominated as Head of the Division 2 for the period 2019-2024.
The XXV IUFRO World Congress 2019 took place in Curitiba, Brazil, from 29 September to 5 October. The stunning and inspiring setting was conducive to scientific exchange and discussion under the shade of some wonderful trees, like the araucária (Araucaria angustifolia), a critically-endangered local tree and symbol of the Congress.
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