A "reality check" in the management of tree breeding programmes

Dordrecht

2014

S. 461-479

Artikel aus einer ZeitschriftUnselbständiges Werk

200194376

Modern tree breeding is now at least 80 years old, and has many successes to report, notably with loblolly pine since the 1920s and with Pinus radiata in New Zealand since the 1950s. Nevertheless, tree breeders are facing various difficult issues, some longstanding, and some new, which will not disappear. These include: meeting the requirement to preserve genetic variation while capturing genetic gain; accelerating the capture of genetic gain through both enhanced selection technology and rapid-deployment propagation systems; coping with changes in perceptions of appropriate breeding goals driven by science, biotic influences, changes in forestry ownerships, and market shifts; harnessing DNA technology with what are still essentially wild organisms; doing so without incurring undue opportunity costs with respect to genetic gains available from conventional breeding; managing cultural differences between classical breeders and those practising the new genomic sciences; and coping with institutional and funding changes. The New Zealand Pinus radiata breeding programme is used as a case study to examine these issues closely and highlight opportunities for the continued development of well-thought-out and successful breeding programmes.