Researchers work to save
hardwood trees in Indiana
By Elizabeth Eble
Staff
Writer
Researchers at Purdue University are using genetic
and genomic technology in a project to save the hardwood trees of Indiana.
These trees face a seedling shortage and are threatened by private owners'
unawareness of proper management techniques.
The nation's only Hardwood Tree Improvement and
Regeneration Center, which began two years ago, is located at Purdue
University. It is a collaborative effort between the Purdue University
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, the United States Department
of Agriculture Forest Service, and the forest industry in Indiana, said
Charles Michler, director of the Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration
Center.
"If we don't do something, we'll lose (hardwood
forests)," said Jeanne Romero-Severson, assistant professor of quantitative
genetics, "If we just build a fence and don't cut it, we'll still lose
it."
Hardwood forests don't regenerate on their own
anymore, and human intervention is needed to keep them in Indiana, said
Romero-Severson.
She added that a managed oak forest would grow
more trees than one left alone.
Eighty-three to 85 percent of hardwood forests
in Indiana are small and privately owned. Most of these owners are not
professional foresters and often too many trees are cut at once, or
the best trees are cut leaving inferior trees to regenerate the forest,
said Romero-Severson.
A deer population 10 times what it was when the
Europeans settled in Indiana adds to the problem as well, said Romero-Severson.
Michler said that the trees also face the issues
of urban sprawl and a seedling shortage of 25 million annually.
The loss of its hardwood forests, which include
red oak, black walnut and black cherry trees, would impact the economy
of Indiana as well as the environment, said Michler.
"Indiana has a large hardwood secondary products
industry. The furniture and cabinet industry is about a $5 billion part
of the economy and it employs about 59,000 people in the state," said
Michler.
According to its Web site, the Hardwood Tree Improvement
and Regeneration Center's mission is to develop genetic, molecular and
tissue culture technologies, and to create forest and nursery management
guidelines for improvement of central hardwood forest productivity.
"The ultimate goal is to provide the knowledge
that will enable people to generate sustainable forests," said Romero-Severson.
The researchers are working to sequence the genome
of various hardwood trees in a way similar to the scientists who recently
finished sequencing the human genome.
Once this is accomplished they will be able to
begin identifying genes responsible for specific traits such as straightness,
resistance to disease or faster growth, said Romero-Severson.
This information will lead to the ability to take
a leaf sample of a seedling to test for specific traits, much like a
person can do a blood test to test for specific genetic traits, said
Romero-Severson.
Researchers recently discovered that red oak trees
in the northern areas of the country have genes not found in red oak
trees elsewhere. This supports the theory of seed zones, which is the
idea that the same type of tree in different areas of the United States
will have different genes that allow it to do better in that area.
"We hope someday to have trees available at the
state nursery that are identified by seed zones so that buyers will
have better results," said Romero-Severson.
Researchers at the center are also concerned that
over the years people cut down the best quality trees and depleted the
good genes. This leads to an increase in undesirable traits in the next
generation of trees and eventually all desirable traits could be eliminated,
said Romero-Severson.
In response to this, the Hardwood Tree Improvement
and Regeneration Center is working to develop cloning technology that
can take a small bit of tissue from a tree and get it to produce artificial
seeds that are exact copies of that tree. This is useful if a tree is
found to have a rare and superior trait, such as disease resistance,
said Michler.
"We have the resources and the economy to be able
to create sustainable forestry here in the north central and north eastern
United States. We have the land, we have the will, and we have the money.
This may be one of few places in the world where this is possible any
longer," said Romero-Severson. "There is a forest right here that we
can save that we're not. This forest needs to be fostered and cared
for every bit as much as the rainforest, and if we do that, we'll have
an incredibly valuable resource here."
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