Biotechnology [and forestry]
2001
W. Brinkman
This newsletter provides a series of articles, news, internet features, funding and job opportunities in the field of forestry, and, more specifically, biotechnology.The research presented in this issue focuses on the use of biotechnology for the identification and conservation of biological diversity, as well as for tree propagation. It argues that while both tree planting and conservation of biological diversity generally require an enabling environment in the sense of policies and economic and cultural situation, it is also important that the technologies to do so are available.The first article provides an overview of current biotechnological methods for tree propagation, reminding us that many of these techniques have existed for a long time, and they are practised by numerous tree growers, including poor farmers, all over the world.The research on genetic diversity of tree species, using isozyme and genomic techniques, has implications for conservation strategies, as well as for tree breeding. Several articles in this issue illustrate how there may be risks involved in the common assumption that samples of tree provenances (different geographic origins) reflect the true genetic variation within a tree species; in reality, most of the variation may be found within one single population, which must be represented by a large enough sample in order to capture the whole diversity within that species
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