Forest Tree Breeding, Testing, and Selection

Dear Colleagues,

Forest tree breeding programs include the development of selection criteria, economic objective traits, and the prediction of genetic values and gain, as key aspects of tree breeding for both economically important traits and adaptability to climatic change. As such programs have entered advanced generations of breeding cycles, and genotyping platforms have become well established and affordable, this field is also concerned with the improvement of progeny testing methodology under the implementation of large datasets with complex pedigrees and genomic information. Forest tree breeding is different from animal breeding as genotypes can be cloned, can have many tested genotypes per family, are tested in designed field trials, and their age to final harvest and time to sexual maturity can be substantially greater than the selection age. Additionally, indirect selection is usually practiced, as while early individual tree performance is measured, the objective trait for growth should be stand volume across multiple harvests, or often mixed genotype stands. Genotype–environment interaction is one the most serious issues in forest tree breeding, and the current rate of climate change places an even greater emphasis on this issue. Additionally, forest tree breeding inevitably increases inbreeding as the programs progress, which in turn reduces genetic diversity and promotes the occurrence of inbreeding depression. Therefore, careful selection and mate allocation has to be carried out to balance gain against these detrimental consequences of increased inbreeding.

The Special Issue on “Forest Tree Breeding, Testing, and Selection” seeks contributions that advance our understanding of and methodologies for forest tree breeding. We welcome research on the development of selection criteria and economic objective traits, genetic value prediction, and progeny testing methodologies. Studies addressing genotype–environment interactions, especially in the context of climate change, and the impact of inbreeding on genetic diversity, are highly encouraged. Additionally, we invite papers on clonal propagation, field trials, and the integration of genomic data into breeding programs. This Special Issue aims to combine traditional breeding methods with modern innovations to promote resilient and productive forest ecosystems.

Prof. Dr. Kyu Suk Kang
Dr. Jaroslav Klapste
Dr. Eduardo Pablo Cappa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.