M. HAGMANM. HAGMAN is in charge of the Forest Tree Breeding Station of the Forest Research Institute at Maisala, Finland.
IN A LARGELY efficiency - minded society and in an era characterized by the dynamic evolution of scientific and technological knowledge and achievements, government, science and industry depend upon one another more than ever before.
Scientific research, technological development and commercial application follow one another so closely that they can hardly be distinguished. Moreover, this cycle shows much continuity. Pausing, slowing down, arbitrary neglect, or omission of any subject areas will have negative consequences.
These general statements by Stoltenberg (1967) can also be applied to the subject of forest genetics and tree breeding. Hare, too, research, technical development and application must go hand in hand if reliable results are to be attained. Although several sectors in the production and use of high-yielding varieties have reached the practical stage, a constant need exists for further research to be programmed and performed.
Although Laurie (1957) has pointed out that research work is rarely programmed from the beginning, several aspects of the planning and execution of research are worth discussing. The object of this paper is to state some principles of general value, to mention important programmes already in action, to identify sectors where more research is needed, and to discuss some aspects of the linking of research with administration and practice.
Nikolai Vavilov (1951), leader of one of the most extensive projects for the production and use of high-yielding varieties, states that the question of new crops is invariably tied up with the finding of suitable varieties: " We have barely begun the systematic study of the world's plant resources and have discovered enormous untouched reserves, unknown to scientific breeders in the past. The tremendous potential source of species and varieties requires thorough investigation employing all the newest methods. ". It is first of all, therefore, important to define the object of the present discussion, the variety.
According to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP, 1958), the term cultivar (variety) denotes an assemblage of cultivated individuals which are distinguished by any character (morphological, physiological, cytological, chemical, etc.) significant for the purposes of agriculture, forestry or horticulture, and which, when reproduced (sexually or asexually), retain their distinguishing features.
From this definition it follows that any project for the production and use of high-yielding varieties must include the four following phases:
1. inventorying the natural occurrence and variability of the characters desired;2. bringing these characters into use by breeding or by selecting from nature;
3. defining and controlling the genetic identity of the cultivars produced;
4. observing and improving cultivars when grown in the field.
NATURE S SOURCES OF HIGH - YIELDING VARIETIES
Searching for valuable genes
As far as tree breeding is concerned, forestry is still in a rather primitive state compared with agriculture, for which plants have been cultivated for several thousand years.
The wide distribution of forests over the world supports the assumption that many useful tree species, geographical races, or local strains have not yet been described or taken into use. This is particularly true of subtropical and tropical species, but even in the temperate zones there are possibilities for new discoveries.
A systematic search for new and useful tree species and varieties must therefore be included in a research programme. At the same time, there is increasing danger. Due to the activities of man, valuable species and provenances are being exterminated and their genes are then lost forever. The disappearance of native stands would cause severe losses in the natural gene pool of a country and preservation measures must be taken before this happens.
In the case of a great many important cultivated plants, the entire concept of the species and its composition has had to be reconstructed. Fortunately this stage has not yet been reached with trees. However, with the increasing cultivation of forest plants and the very extensive movement of species and provenances from one part of the world to another, the danger of the early loss of the original species and its natural variation should not be underestimated.
Centralized activities for the prevention of losses of valuable tree species have already been started and the importance of this problem stressed (FAO, 1969).
Inventory programmes are being developed for Mexican pines by the National Institute for Forest Research in Mexico, for eucalypts by the Forestry and Timber Bureau at Canberra, for tropical pines in the Caribbean by the Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford, England, and for pines in tropical southeast Asia by the Danish/FAO Forest Tree Seed Centre at Humlebaek.
Equally important areas are to be found in South America, west Africa, the interior of southwest China and northeast Manchuria, as well as in parts of the Siberian taiga. High priority should be given to research programmes in these areas. National institutions should be informed about the international value of such activities.
When areas are being searched for useful species, races or even for single individuals, taxonomical classification and identification can rely on methods already developed by botanists. But there is an equal need for the description of plants and of the ecological conditions required for their growth, since these aspects have often been forgotten in taxonomical or technological work. Older literature should not be overlooked in this connexion, since it was often written by scientists who still had time to observe and to describe what they had seen. Carl Maximowicz (1859) and Ernest H. Wilson (1913) could be mentioned as outstanding in this category.
Sampling gene pools
Sampling can be carried out according to several different principles. Variability, superiority, or special qualities may have different value to different selectors. Especially in the case of new species, it is important to include in the programme as much as possible of the variability. In the long run this will give the breeder more material. On the other hand, several characters in forest trees show such a high heritability that it would be wise to select these characters, if available. However, what may be superiority in one country may not be superior in another which has different conditions.
How to sample a certain gene pool must be left to the statisticians in close cooperation with persons who have good knowledge of the particular species, its distribution, natural growing conditions, and local variation. The IBP Handbook on plant gene resources methodology, which was recently published, will be very helpful in making such decisions.
Even when the area has been successfully sampled, and when description and samples have been brought home, there is no guarantee that the natural genes will be continuously available. Measures must be taken in order to preserve what has been found. The interests of the tree breeder and the timber merchant may in such cases be diametrically opposed. Every country interested in forestry must include as a part of its forest research programme a plan for the preservation of national and local gene sources. This plan must define the areas and regions to be covered and the amount of species, stands and trees to be protected.
Role of the regional centre
The object of an expedition is usually not only to describe but to obtain material for further cultivation. In many cases one cannot collect seed or other material at the time of the expedition. Usually local arrangements must be made for later shippings. Consequently, the setting up of a local or regional seed centre may be desirable. Costs for expeditions are high, and interests in a particular area or species may often be shared by several countries. Joint efforts to set up a seed centre or form a working group for seed procurement will increase effectiveness and save money.
Such centres have been working successfully in several cases, the Thai/Danish teak centre, for instance (Keiding, 1966). The working group for seed procurement in Section 22 of IUFRO, led by Mr. Barner of Humlebaek, Denmark, is a good example of how activities outside the collection area can be highly useful, provided they have connexions with a local, well-trained staff.
The role of the regional centre consists of more than collecting and distributing seed. The same organization can set up and maintain national clone banks. It also can serve as an exchange centre for vegetative material. Where methods and facilities are available for long term storage of seed, the centre might keep a seed bank. Arrangements could be made for controlled reproduction of particularly good sources through natural regeneration.
Research on pollen collection and storage is now making good progress at many locations; for example the Forest Tree Breeding Institute, at Schmalenbeck, in the Federal Republic of Germany, and at the Arboretum, Hørsholm, Denmark in cooperation with the Danish Atomic Research Centre. The collection and storage of pollen in a pollen bank will be another activity for regional centres in the future.
Plant introduction involves the transfer of genetic entities from environments to which they are adapted to environments in which they are untried. Study of the genetic structure of organisms and of their populations is necessary if the genetic responses to such changes are to be understood and predicted (Bennett, 1965) and this study can best be done at regional centres. Specialists can not only describe local trees and climate, but the experience they collect in their daily work will form a most valuable basis for understanding the genecology of a species in its natural conditions. An early contact with such a centre of activity will save much time and money for a beginner in the field, who may be hampered by lack of material from known sources, inadequate knowledge, and lack of trained staff.
Centres should be in close contact with each other. They should also keep international organizations informed about what they are planning or doing. A special interest or a single specialist may attract a team of scientists, such teams being very effective in the development of research.
The study of the genetic structure of a natural population will ultimately lead to the formation of the " ecological passport " (Vavilov, 1951). Population studies of this type have been started in Finland for Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, and Betula verrucosa. The intention is that, when the degree of variability of characters of a morphological or any other nature is found, further research will disclose the controlling genetic factors and their physiological and biochemical basis.
Planners of methodological studies of the structure and development of a population should not forget that simulation with a computer may give 300 generations in an hour of computer time (Crosby, 1960).
Introducing species and varieties
Different phases of plant introduction form a continuum, from arboreta and forest gardens, to field experiments, to cultivation on a practical scale. Several well - known publications concerned with this work are available (Edwards and Howell, 1962; Lines,- 1967). The same topic is discussed by Holubcik (1969) and by Larsen (1969).
However, one word of caution must be said. Extensive development of plant introduction must go hand - in - hand with its control to prevent the introduction of new parasites. The organization of quarantine inspection is an essential part of plant introduction. There. fore importation of plants should be centralized and strictly controlled.
Forestry introductions are usually made on a large; scale, and the amount of control that can be carried out even in test plantations is small. Regional organizations, such as the European Plant Protection Organization, should be consulted before any large scale importation is started. Such actions would assure that no serious danger will accompany the introduction of a good variety or of a new and promising species.
BREEDING METHODS
All desirable characters - do not usually appear jointly in the same tree. In order to obtain the desired combination different breeding methods must be used. Consideration is therefore needed of which methods will give most information most quickly. General methods of plant breeding will be useful, but the forest tree breeder should also look for what can be learned from new research programmer for other crops (Donald, 1968; Hageman et al., 1967).
Forest trees are long lived. It is often necessary to forecast future results from early assessments. Mathematical models and statistical processes must be developed to get the most reliable prediction of the final characters. Some of these topics are discussed by Nanson (1969).
To what extent selection indices and heritability observations can be used also depends on the crop. A Laplander growing pine at a rotation of 140 years needs different methods from those of a eucalyptus planter in the tropics.
Research to speed breeding
Many of the methods developed by geneticists for crop plants or domestic animals are based on experience with experimental organisms like Drosophila, Neurospora and others. The advantages of these forms for studying the physical basis of heredity are obvious. Yet, as Ford (1964) pointed out, it is hardly possible to speak of the ecology of Neurospora. If ecological genetics is to be successfully developed, we need new thinking, new methods and new material.
Attention should be paid to the possibilities of developing a " Drosophila tree " upon which several research programmes could be carried out and methods tested. Such trees must have short rotation periods, abundant flowering, be physiologically robust, and have large distribution areas. For the temperate zone, alders or birches would be good candidates. Species with similar characteristics are also required for the tropics and subtropics.
In conditions of rapid growth as in the tropics it should be easy to test programmes based on mathematical models or assumptions about different kinds of selection, inbreeding, etc. The evaluation of early test methods in laboratory and nursery is another subject which must be given high priority.
An open question is how much basic research is needed in order to make progress in practice. Here the estimates vary more than anywhere else. When practice is going well, nobody needs basic research. When things are going badly, people cannot spare the money (Laurie, 1957).
Breeding objectives
Breeding objectives are very different in different parts of the world. There are still areas where the most needed wood product is fuel wood (Turbang and von Hegel, 1968). At the same time and at the other end of the scale, activities are approaching the limits between forestry and horticulture in the breeding of Christmas trees for aesthetic values.
From time to time it has to be considered whether breeding objectives need to be redefined. A high yield of volume depends on several factors, and it might perhaps be better to breed directly for physiological characters affecting growth. For instance, has anybody considered breeding for stomata! control of photosynthetic activity (Gaastra, 1959) ? This is not an easy operation, but the usefulness of a multidisciplinary approach has been stressed by Fowler (1969).
Since trees rarely grow singly, but form stands which are complex ecological systems, much can be learned from basic ecology. Recently the function of terrestial ecosystems has been the target of a comprehensive symposium (Eckhard, 1968). Even in resistance research it might be just as useful to study the breeding pattern of the pathogen as to study the host plant.
The needs of the wood industry are changing just as rapidly as the conditions of timber production. The method of timber extraction has already affected the size and structure of the mature stand. Obviously the breeding of big timber must be different from breeding of fast-growing hardwoods cultivated on a rotation of one to three years and thereafter mechanically harvested and chipped on the site.
Breeders should be prepared for such changes in needs. It is also worthwhile to investigate which fundamental characters of wood are likely to give most profit in industrial use. Hence, scientists doing research on production of varieties should cooperate much more closely with those who are to use their products. Good examples of such cooperative work can be found in the proceedings of the IUFRO Section 41 meeting on wood quality (IUFRO, 1965) and the TAPPI meeting on forest biology (TAPPI, 1967).
Information systems
The amount of data from research work can be enormous. It will be still more difficult to handle when fundamental research requires the simultaneous study of botanical, climatological, physiological, biochemical and technological factors. Consequently, programmes for the capture, handling and storage of data, and for high speed documentation are most important today.
Computers are available at most large institutions. Several groups have been working on these questions, and many of the programmes available could perhaps be directly used for forestry purposes (Bradley and Denmead, 1967; Dale, 1968). The International Atomic Energy Agency is working on a special programme for cultivars (Finlay and Konzak, 1967).
On the other hand, documentation schemes should also be developed for the scientists of smaller countries with limited means. IUFRO Section 22 Working Group on Documentation and Data Retrieval can be of help in this respect.
For beginners or veterans of tree breeding it would be very useful to have a worldwide, current record of research programmes. Such records could be in the form suggested in " Horticultural research through the world," as published in Chronica Horticultura, the official organ of the International Society for Horticultural Science.
METHODS FOR MASS PRODUCTION
The generative phase
Breeding plans appropriate to a crop are determined very largely by its mating system. Before any action programme on production can be started, it is necessary to know the breeding system of the crop. In some cases it can be deduced from genera] rules what sort of breeding system a species will have, but it is wise to check the hypothesis before starting large crossing activities.
So far, the system of mating is known only for some of the most important species of the temperate zone, and it would be good to get programmes started concerning tile subtropical and tropical species as well. In these the study of the contemporary evolution of natural breeding systems could be highly rewarding. Important studies emanating from other sections of biological research are in progress (Ashton, 1969).
Basic data should be collected continuously on all phases of the reproductive behaviour of trees, in their native country as well as abroad. These observations should be related to climatological conditions, nutritional treatments and. clonal variation.
The background of failures in hybridization should be studied. The forester ought to know why it has been impossible to make a certain cross. Then he could design treatments and breeding methods to overcome barriers to hybridization.
Effective means of obtaining successful pollination on a massive scale are still scarce, and too little research has been done on the artificial pollination process. Heavy losses are frequently found in crossing work without knowledge of the reasons behind the failure. The collection, handling and storage of pollen deserve improvement. In Finland attention has been concentrated on pollen collection. Studies of pollen storage have already been mentioned.
Despite several attempts, there seem to be very few successful methods for the control of the flowering process, a question of fundamental value. It is hoped that this and several other aspects can be treated in detail by IUFRO Section 22 which meets in Finland this year.
The vegetative phase
For several tree species grafting will still be the main method of propagation. We need more basic data in order to understand variation in the grafting results. The work of the Forest Tree Breeding Centre at Graupa, Eastern Germany, should be especially mentioned because of the detailed physiological studies that have been made there by Tzschacksch (1967, 1968a, 1968b and 1969).
If adventitious embryony could be controlled, maximum use could be made of known genotypes for both genetic research and production plantations, with all the convenience of being able to store and transport genotypes as seeds (Libby et al., 1969).
Until very recently (Sutton, 1969) few data have bean compiled on the development of the conifer root system, and little research done on the genetics of root development, a question just as important as the genetics of the stem and crown. Few breeders seem to have started programmes on the improvement of root systems. Much of the genetical and physiological background to differences in rooting ability is also still missing. On the other hand, applications of new techniques have recently led to promising results (Thulin and Faulds, 1968).
When it comes to the -use of high-yielding varieties in practice, forestry is in a very preliminary stage. The tree breeder should be prepared to answer these two questions:
1. Is a variety high-yielding everywhere?2. Can the identification of material with a particular high-yielding variety he accepted with confidence?
To answer these questions the interaction between variety and environment should be studied, how to collect and use the field man's experience, and how to control cultivar identity in production and use. Before a definite prediction of the suitability of a species or a variety to new conditions can be made, it must be subjected to direct testing.
INTERACTION BETWEEN VARIETY AND ENVIRONMENT
Hereditary structures of living things that have successfully populated climatically diverse regions of the world are so constituted that they contain a great deal of unexpressed variability. Some of the hidden variability can be made evident by moving the organism to a highly different environment. There genes express themselves in different ways. Another part of the variability may become manifest when genes of ecotypes from contrasting environments are brought together through crossing and recombination. Distinct species undoubtedly carry vast amounts of unrecognized variability because only differences that can be genetically analysed can be identified (Clausen and Hiesey, 1958).
Research programmes should be designed to detect such hidden genes when forest tree species are brought into different environments. Forest trees are in this case probably unique as experimental plants due to the great scale of operations and the long period of observation.
When moving species over long distances and into entirely different conditions we should not forget that we may create conditions for new evolutionary episodes (Simpson, 1953). Since tile expressions of variability may be dependent upon minute and very local variation in soil and climate, a system of collecting precise data on all edaphic and climatological factors must be developed.
Field experiments will probably not be numerous enough to expose the whole variation. Hence, programmes should be designed to accumulate data also from forest plantations. Facts on the behaviour a variety in plantation will form a sound basis for judging its genetic stability. They may also reveal additional features of economic importance not expressed in the area of origin.
Small countries cannot carry out varietal testing in many different conditions. International testing programmes must therefore be organized for the most important species. Experiments of this type have been running for several years with Picea, Larix and Eucalyptus and new series of experiments have just begun with Pseudotsuga, Pinus contorta, Cedrela and two tropical pine species. Additional species, particularly from the rain forest, should also be tested. The Working Group on Provenance Experiments set up within Section 22 of IUFRO will serve as a base for coordination and cooperation. The group will encourage exchange of existing and coming data from such experiments.
CONTROLLING THE IDENTITY OF CULTIVARS
The future forest cultivator will more and more use special cultivars produced by breeding centres and distributed by seed dealers and nurseries all over the world. Because such cultivars may be sold to customers who may not have specialized knowledge of the crop, it is necessary to have a well - developed programme to control the identity of cultivars. Before such a system can be handed over to legal and administrative bodies, research should determine the best methods of making controls reliable.
Methods for identification should be simple, accurate and rapid. It should be possible to apply computer codes to forest cultivars in the same way as these are used in numerical taxonomy. (Williams and Dale, 1965; Rogers et al., 1967.) Where morphological identification is difficult, it might be possible to use biochemical tests. Modern laboratory technique has made such tests just as rapid as any measurement or microscopical identification (Fairbrothers, 1968; Harborne, 1968).
When the identification of a forestry cultivar is possible, as in horticulture (Seibert, 1968), registration centres should be established for the most important species. Existing bodies could fulfil this function, for example the International Poplar Commission and the centres for teak and eucalyptus mentioned earlier.
If control and registration of cultivars are to be effective, every country has to set up a national scheme for the registration of selected clones, stands, seed orchards, hybrids, etc. Registration of all plantations made with improved material is also necessary. It must be remembered that such national registers are a condition for association with the scheme of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for the control of forest reproductive material moving in international trade (OECD, 1967).
Another possibility which must be considered is the search and breeding for genetical markers of morphological or biochemical nature. Basic research on the production and use of such markers is likely to pay off well in the future.
The possibilities of finding new methods must be investigated. Recently the first successful experiment on transformation in higher plants has been reported (Hess, 1969). There might also be a use for this technique in forest tree breeding.
RESEARCH AND PRACTICE
It is not necessary, and often not even desirable, for the research worker to translate the results of his work into processes of economic production. He shares with others the responsibility for exploring the most effective means for this purpose. In other words, he is a member of a team whose responsibilities extend over development, design and production, whose efforts he must guide, to whose needs he must respond, and from whose difficulties he in turn will receive much stimulus and guidance (Jackson, 1957).
Very few research institutes can handle such work alone. The execution of any large - scale research programme in tree breeding should, from the very beginning, be organized in close cooperation with practical forest management and all its administrative bodies. Several activities that easily form a burden for the research institute can often be taken over by field workers. In turn, many field office operations will benefit from centralized institutional programming. In this way communications between research and practice improve and mutual understanding, the foundation of all work, is established.
In Finland this problem has been solved by organizing the National Finnish Forest Tree Improvement Programme (Table 7). The work is divided in two ways: in one direction according to its nature and in the other direction according to the administrative bodies through which the flow of public funds must be channelled.
FINANCIAL PLANNING
Modern research is an expensive business. Nearly all organizations have some kind of an annual budget. How are these budgets arrived at? Surprisingly little is known either about costs or the manpower needed for research projects or how these costs are divided among activities. Accounts are not usually published in scientific journals.
There is still a tradition that research scientists are financially irresponsible, being concerned only with spending the maximum amount of money on their investigations. Experience shows that, given a system which allows them to take adequate responsibility for the financial affairs of their laboratory, they can be as economically minded as anyone else (Wilson, 1957).
TABLE 7. - ORGANIZATION RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE FINNISH FOREST TREE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME, 1967-76
|
|
Forest Research Institute |
Foundation for Forest Tree Breeding |
Forest Service and private forestry boards |
|
Fundamental. |
Direction of selection work in the field |
Selection of material stand candidates |
Selection of plus tree and plus |
|
Applied |
Development of crossing methods and systems |
Production of pollen for crossings |
Planting of seed orchards |
|
Practice |
Direction of progeny tests for seed orchards |
Improvement of pollination techniques |
Execution of progeny tests for seed orchards |
Research programmes must be based on confidence between the scientist and his partners. Once it is established, increasing financial authority can be passed to the scientist and delegated as appropriate to all levels. By this means the centres of knowledge and of authority are brought close together. This leads to true economy.
The financial section of a laboratory must not control the research programme; rather it should keep a constant watch on expenditures. The financial section can make realistic cost estimates by ensuring that all true costs are included. This will enable the scientist to appreciate the real cost of his project, which frequently surprises him.
The beginner in the field of forest genetics research and tree breeding wants to know beforehand which phases of his programme are likely to need the most people and money. He also wants to know when staff vacancies need to be filled. So far, few time studies of research work in forest tree breeding have been published. Certain statistics should be collected (Table 8). These should give the distribution of work time in man - hours used in different activities at the tree breeding station. Table 8 shows some trends at Maisala, Finland, which must be typical of developments elsewhere. The programme started at the propagation stage and changed slowly to crossing, field experiments and registration duties. (The station was not responsible for the selection of trees in the first years of its activity.)
Without accounts like these it would have been very difficult to anticipate the large part of time taken by social service and maintenance. Another fact was the great amount of work spent on primary handling of material from different breeding activities. One essential need is a programme for handling material and data as automatically as possible from the very beginning.
Before large - scale activities are begun it will be useful to employ the programme evaluation and review technique (PERT), or other forms of systems analysis, for different phases. Instructions for making such programmes are easily obtainable (Davis, 1968).
A condition for such planning is that research personnel keep careful records of the time consumption of all operations. An example of such a study is shown in Table 9. Once again, surprising points turn up, like the long time consumed by observations of the floral development in Pinus sylvestris. When more facts of this kind have been collected, an activity which may be called research on research, the programming of research in forest genetics and tree breeding will be much easier and much more dependable.
STAFFING
Sixty years ago laboratory assistants mainly helped the scientist in his string and sealing wax techniques. Today the scientist requires assistance not only in laboratory routine but also in the construction and maintenance of apparatus. He requires the very highest technical skills. Experimentation in the laboratory today has reached a stage where the knowledge and skill of the scientist and the technician are almost completely interdependent. (Edwards, 1960.)
Before the execution of any research programme, it is therefore necessary to educate the technical personnel as well as possible. Any government starting tree breeding research should pay equal interest to academic and technical staff members. However, there are few places in the world where forest genetics and tree breeding are taught at an academic level. There are still fewer places, if any, where technicians can be trained in this highly specialized field. Hence, training schemes for the techniques of forest tree breeding should be set up by institutions that have a long experience in this kind of work.
Nowadays it is more or less axiomatic that specialists in various fields should be consulted in the planning and execution of a research programme. There is also a tendency for scientists to be increasingly specialized. However, Bronowski (1957) was correct when he stated: " In order to be able to work in a team which includes many specialists a man must have a wide general grasp beyond his speciality of what the other men in a team are doing. You cannot organize such a team of equals if they are all no more than specialists."
For effectiveness, the team responsible for a research programme must be of the right size. To quote the National Science Foundation (1959): " Parkinson's law is an effective deterrent to originality in research. With the growth in size and number of the staff, there comes a multiplication of the managerial functions, often falling upon the shoulders of the more able research people. This administrative burden deadens the research sensibilities of those who could be most productive. " From the other point of view, a team must be large enough to bring needed specialists together into a critical mass where desirable action and reaction can occur.
DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS
The rapid expansion of research activities all over the world results in an abundance and variety of results both in fundamental and applied research. The utilization of these results depends on the extent to which they are easily accessible. Many of them are scattered as miscellaneous documents, unavailable in print. If they are published as part of the proceedings of meetings, the heterogeneous nature of the collected matter makes it difficult to classify or to locate individual papers in reference libraries.
TABLE 8. DISTRIBUTION OF MAN-HOURS AT THE MAISALA TREE BREEDING STATION. 1950-67
To avoid the loss of precious information resulting from research, rapid publication should be encouraged everywhere. Use of widely distributed journals would be an effective means of international dissemination of research findings to other scientists. From time to time all research done on a particular species should be summarized in an up-to-date monograph for the benefit of working field officers (Lamb, 1968b). Good recent examples of such work are Fowells (1965) and Funk (1969) on North American trees, Mirov (1967) on Pinus, Maini and Crayford (1968) on Canadian poplars, and the studies of tropical trees issued by the Commonwealth Forestry Institute, Oxford 'Lamb, 1966, 1968a, 1968b). More work is in the stage of compilation. A study now in progress at the University of Freiburg, in the Federal Republic of Germany, has as its goal a monograph on Picea abies. Finance to cover the cost of publication of many more studies of this nature is urgently needed. Without rapid publication and wide distribution of results, research cannot be transformed into development.
1. Regional centres are necessary to sample and collect new variation, to study inherited variation, and to conserve valuable gene resources.2. Travel to and cooperative work with such centres should be supported and encouraged.
3. Interdisciplinary cooperation in basic research should be encouraged.
4. Coordination of research and practical management should be established early and carried out at all levels in a programme.
5. Use specialists but keep a wide outlook.
6. Technical personnel should be trained well, given secure positions, and assigned a high degree of responsibility.
7. Time studies on research operations should be made in order to establish a good knowledge of costs and manpower and to make the best use of staff and money.
8. Good documentation is a necessity. Systems for rapid retrieval of information from literature, experiments and practice must be developed.
9. Annual reviews of current programmes and plans should be published.
10. Transfer of information is essential to transform research into development.
TABLE 9. - MAN - HOURS USED FOR DIFFERENT PHASES OF CROSSING INVOLVING 10000 ISOLATION: BAGS, AT THE MAISALA FOREST TREE BREEDING STATION IN 1968
|
|
January |
February |
March |
April |
May |
June |
July |
Total |
|
Work with cones from 1967. |
174 |
174 |
|
|
|
8 |
12 |
348 |
|
Calculation of results from 1967 |
|
167 |
167 |
|
|
|
|
354 |
|
Numbering of isolation bags. |
|
16 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
24 |
|
Testing of pollen quality |
|
54 |
140 |
19 |
8 |
30 |
|
251 |
|
Collection of spruce branches. |
|
|
14 |
38 |
|
|
|
52 |
|
Maintenance of spruce branches. |
|
|
96 |
90 |
23 |
|
|
209 |
|
Installation of pollen extractors. |
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
|
7 |
|
Numbering of labels. |
|
|
73 |
14 |
55 |
9 |
|
151 |
|
Trimming of pollination equipment. |
|
|
52 |
199 |
|
|
|
251 |
|
Trimming of pollen ex tractors. |
|
|
|
93 |
|
132 |
|
225 |
|
Isolation, Pinus sylvestris, greenh. |
|
|
|
14 |
|
|
|
14 |
|
Pollination, Pinus sylvestris, greenh. |
|
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
7 |
|
Preparation of pollination equipment. |
|
|
|
101 |
|
|
|
101 |
|
Collection of birch branches. |
|
|
|
5 |
|
|
|
5 |
|
Preparation of ladders. |
|
|
|
|
43 |
30 |
|
73 |
|
Forcing of pollen. |
|
|
|
17 |
74 |
252 |
|
343 |
|
Isolation, birch, forest trees. |
|
|
|
31 |
|
|
|
31 |
|
Pollination, birch, forest trees. |
|
|
|
|
37 |
|
|
37 |
|
Unbagging, birch, forest trees. |
|
|
|
|
41 |
18 |
|
59 |
|
Collection of pollen. |
|
|
|
|
87 |
140 |
|
227 |
|
Isolation, spruce, forest trees. |
|
|
|
|
37 |
|
|
37 |
|
Pollination, spruce, forest trees |
|
|
|
|
10 |
8 |
|
18 |
|
Isolation, P. Sylvestris clone bank |
|
|
|
|
319 |
83 |
|
402 |
|
Insecticide treatments. |
|
|
|
|
18 |
|
|
18 |
|
Emasculation, P. Sylvestris. |
|
|
|
|
5 |
36 |
|
41 |
|
Pollination, P. sylvestris |
|
|
|
|
2 |
168 |
|
170 |
|
Collection of cytological samples. |
|
|
|
|
|
51 |
12 |
63 |
|
Observation of flowering, P. sylvestris |
|
|
|
14 |
181 |
1094 |
4 |
1293 |
|
Unbagging, spruce. |
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
|
7 |
|
Labels put on branches |
|
|
|
|
26 |
5 |
|
31 |
|
Unbagging P. sylvestris. |
|
|
|
|
|
269 |
26 |
295 |
|
Isolation, P. cembra + P. peuce |
|
|
|
|
|
15 |
|
15 |
|
Pollination, P. cembra + P. peuce |
|
|
|
|
|
21 |
|
21 |
|
Inventory, free poll. Cones |
|
|
|
|
|
|
48 |
48 |
|
Cleaning and sorting bags |
|
|
|
|
26 |
30 |
89 |
145 |
|
Unbagging, P. cembra + P. peuce |
|
|
|
|
|
|
10 |
10 |
|
Protection of 2nd year cones. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
6 |
|
Total |
174 |
411 |
557 |
443 |
1191 |
2406 |
207 |
5389 |
The use of forest products changes rapidly with the demands of the developing society. It is necessary to anticipate some of the coming uses of trees. The role of wood should be considered in close interaction with complex polymeric substances (Miettinen, 1968). Trees should be regarded as producers of raw material for the action of man - made enzymes, as a means of solving the burning problem of hunger, and as producers of aesthetic pleasures that form another indispensable part of our human life.
In Vavilov's words: " We are now entering an epoch of differential ecological, physiological and genetical classification. It is an immense work. The ocean of knowledge is practically untouched by biologists. It requires the joint labours of many different specialists. It requires the international spirit, the cooperative work of investigators throughout the whole world. "
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