A model for tree breeding

The breeding strategy for Norway spruce and Scots pine for southern Sweden was discussed in a series of workshops organized by the Swed~shU niversity of Agricultural Sciences. Department of Forest Genetics. Uppsala, Sweden. Tree breeding was defined as a continuing process in whlch the development of improved genetic stock is balanced against the need to conserve genetic variability, while at the same the properties of the trees being bred and multiplied are learned. A model of tree breeding, consisting of the functrons long-term breeding. short-term activity and supportive research. was presented. It was stated that this kind of effort cannot be fitted into a short-term economic perspective. but it is justified as long as the nation is committed to managing biological resources. The components of a tree breeding system were given as breeding stock information/techniques and organization. The breeding strategy was viewed as an operating mechanism that makes the evolution of this system possible when the environment and human needs are changing.