Trees for Future: Results of the autumn 2020 and 2021 monitoring campaign
RESULTS OF THE AUTUMN MONITORING CAMPAIGN
2020 AND 2021
For several years now, our forest species have been affected by climate change and the resulting health problems. This is particularly true of spruce, which has been affected by bark beetles, and beech, which is not coping well with successive droughts.
It was against this backdrop that our Trees for Future project, formerly known as the Arboretums project, came into being in 2018. Trees for Future proposes to explore the assisted migration of species and provenances of southern origin as one of the potential ways of adapting forests to climate change.
THE PROJECT IN BRIEF
Today, the project has 181 experimental plots of 20 ares planted at 42 sites throughout Belgium. 116 plots have been monitored in 2020 and/or 2021. There are two types of experimental set-up. The most common is a plantation of 400 trees (2 m x 2.5 m) of the same species. In this case, an area of 50 trees is demarcated and marked out (central stake and individual labels on each tree). These 50 trees are monitored every autumn.
In 2018, Société Royale Forestière de Belgique launched the Trees For Future. The aim of the project is to test different species and provenances in forests within a network of experimental plots. Today, the project has 181 experimental plots of 20 ares planted on 42 sites throughout Belgium. 25 species and 43 provenances are currently being tested by Trees for Future. 75,000 trees have already been planted as part of this project, the aim of which is to evaluate these species and provenances according to various criteria, including adaptation to the current and future climate, resistance to pests and pathogens, productivity and wood quality, and biodiversity.
The plantations are monitored annually for recovery, growth and health. Initial results are encouraging, with no major problems to report.
This article is taken from Silva Belgica 4/2022
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