Because climate change is pressuring every terrestrial ecosystem including forests, efficient methods for managing forest genetic resources are needed. One approach is to use molecular genetic markers in tree breeding programmes. Current genotyping tools can be used to improve the selection of genetically superior trees via genomic prediction. However, population structure may affect the prediction of breeding values, particul...

In late June 2021, multiple days of record‐breaking heat caused an unprecedented amount of foliage death in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, USA. Portions of tree canopies with healthy green foliage prior to the heat changed to red or orange shortly after the event. The change in foliage color could be readily seen in satellite imagery and was corroborated as foliar death (heat scorch) by aerial surveys and extensive obse...

The 1912 Douglas-Fir Heredity Study is one of the first studies undertaken by the US Forest Service, and one of the first forest genetics studies in North America. The study considers provenance variation of 120 parent trees from 13 seed sources planted at five test sites in the Pacific Northwest. The unique, long-term nature of the study makes it valuable to revisit and consider its biological and historical significance. Thi...

Tree populations usually show adaptations to their local environments as a result of natural selection. As climates change, populations can become locally maladapted and decline in fitness. Evaluating the expected degree of genetic maladaptation due to climate change will allow forest managers to assess forest vulnerability, and develop strategies to preserve forest health and productivity. We studied potential genetic maladap...

Understanding the genecology of forest trees is critical for gene conservation, for predicting the effects of climate change and climate change adaptation, and for successful reforestation. Although common genecological patterns have emerged, species‐specific details are also important. Which species are most vulnerable to climate change? Which are the most important adaptive traits and environmental drivers of natural selecti...

Climates are expected to warm considerably over the next century, resulting in expectations that plant populations will not be adapted to future climates. We estimated the risk of maladaptation of current populations of coastal Douglas‐fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii ) to future climates as the proportion of nonoverlap between two normal distributions where the means and genetic variances of current and future popul...

For plantation forestry to be successful, it must be biologically possible, economically feasible, and culturally adoptable (i.e., socially acceptable). We discuss social acceptability and plantation forestry in the Pacific Northwest, stressing that social acceptability is a judgmental process that is both provisional and dependent on many complex factors, and that most decisions are based on intuition, rather than a rational...