Primer Note: A novel set of EST-SSR markers in Tamarix: a resource to characterize this genus

AbstractBoth the negative and positive ecological impact of Tamarix plants is controversial, and thus a more comprehensive understanding is necessary. Tamarisks are invasive in many countries but the inter-specific transferability that characterizes simple sequence repeats (SSRs) could be harnessed to track the spread of specific genotypes or to study invasive populations. Thirteen polymorphic SSR markers, derived from expressed sequence tag (EST), were identified by first screening 26 samples of T. aphylla, T. jordanis, T. nilotica, and T. tetragyna and then 33 unidentified tamarisks from Yotvata, Israel. The mean number of alleles per locus ranged from two to 14 and the mean expected heterozygosity was 0.415. These EST-SSR markers will undoubtedly be useful in the genetic characterization of the genus Tamarix due to their high cross-species transferability which enables the estimation of the genetic diversity among and within different species, that are adapted to the same desert habitat under severe environmental constraints

Assessing and mapping biomass potential productivity from poplar-dominated riparian forests: A case study

River systems are subjected to continuous physical changes as a result of their sediment transport. River dynamics is mainly determined by the seasonal variation of weather conditions and, together with the nature of the catchment and land management, affects flow patterns on a local scale. Riparian vegetation is well adapted to this periodical disturbance. It naturally regenerates on the new mineral soil created by the redistribution of river sediments during floods, playing an important role in the maintenance of streams and riverbanks stability. The high level of resilience and productivity of riparian tree species like Populus, contributes to the rapid biomass accumulation of riparian vegetation making these ecosystems of potential interest for biomass production for energy. This paper presents an operational methodology for investigating the biomass potential from riparian forests by coupling airborne laser scanning data and field survey. A case study on assessing and mapping biomass dynamics over a seventeen year period along a tract on the Paglia river, in Central Italy, is presented and discussed. The results highlight that the surface of the poplardominated riparian vegetation has significantly changed over the 1989e2006 period. More than 70 ha of new poplar forest were naturally regenerated during the analyzed period. The total amount of aboveground woody biomass of the riparian forest at the second inventory occasion has been estimated in 88 Mg ha!1, evidencing a large amount of technically available resources for bioenergy production (around 80% of the standing woody biomass). The innovative strategy here proposed to assess and map at a very high spatial resolution the abovegroundwoody biomass of riparian forest meets the monitoring requirements to support energy production based on modern, non-conventional biomass harvest planning options

The obscure events contributing to the evolution of an incipient sex chromosome in Populus: a retrospective working hypothesis

Genetic determination of gender is a fundamental developmental and evolutionary process in plants. Although it appears that dioecy in [i]Populus[/i] is genetically controlled, the precise gender-determining systems remain unclear. The recently released second draft assembly and annotated gene set of the [i]Populus[/i] genome provided an opportunity to revisit this topic. We hypothesized that over evolutionary time, selective pressure has reformed the genome structure and gene composition in the peritelomeric region of the chromosome XIX, which has resulted in a distinctive genome structure and cluster of genes contributing to gender determination in [i]Populus trichocarpa[/i]. Multiple lines of evidence support this working hypothesis. First, the peritelomeric region of the chromosome XIX contains significantly fewer single nucleotide polymorphisms than the rest of [i]Populus[/i] genome and has a distinct evolutionary history. Second, the peritelomeric end of chromosome XIX contains the largest cluster of the nucleotide-binding site–leucine-rich repeat (NBS–LRR) class of disease resistance genes in the entire [i]Populus[/i] genome. Third, there is a high occurrence of small microRNAs on chromosome XIX, which is coincident to the region containing the putative gender-determining locus and the major cluster of NBS–LRR genes. Further, by analyzing the metabolomic profiles of floral bud in male and female [i]Populus[/i] trees using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, we found that there are gender-specific accumulations of phenolic glycosides. Taken together, these findings led to the hypothesis that resistance to and regulation of a floral pathogen and gender determination coevolved, and that these events triggered the emergence of a nascent sex chromosome. Further studies of chromosome XIX will provide new insights into the genetic control of gender determination in [i]Populus[/i]

Prospettive e potenzialità della digitalizzazione del settore forestale in Italia

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) play a key role for improving the implementation of sustainable forest management at local, regional, and global level. The ICT potential to easily exploit a wider and more up-to-date set of information on the economic, environmental, and so- cial value of forests is of relevant help for the daily work of technicians, land owners, and companies in boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of forest management. The concept of “Precision Forestry” (PF) was developed from the early 2000s, as a branch of precision farming or precision agriculture. PF includes the use of ICT, remote and proximal sensing technologies, and other devices to coordinate and control several processes on a spatial scale (“Precision”) for monitoring, planning, and managing forest resources (“Forestry”). The aim of this monography is to collect and describe some of the most important PF experiences applied or potential- ly useful for the Italian forestry sector. It may represent a reference guide for the stakeholders, such as forest owners, professional technicians, public administrators, and policy makers. The book includes eleven chapters reviewing the main tech- nological tools available in the Italian context and the most recent advances of ICT in forestry, also focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of their practical implementation. The opportunities and challenges of implementing PF meth- ods, practices and technologies are also discussed. In the first two chapters the precision forestry concept and its historical development are introduced. In the third chap- ter some basic elements of ICT, GIS, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), remote/proximal sensing, and related technologies which are essential for a better compre- hension of PF applications are recalled. In chapter 4 recent advances in large scale forest inventories with a focus on mapping and on the spatial estimation of forest variables integrating field surveys and multisource re- motely sensed data are described. Current advancements in the acquisition of field information including Terrestrial La- ser Scanning (TLS), new digital dendrometers, tree-talkers, terrestrial cameras, and APP for portable devices such as smartphones or tablets for dendrometric tree measures and new citizen science applications to support quantitative and qualitative spatial estimation of forest variables over large areas (i.e., forest health, fuel types) are also presented. The chapter ends up with the description of some experiences in the implementation of Forest Information Systems in Italy to provide a simple open-access to such new generation of spatial forest information. In chapter 5 PF tools, instruments, and technologies to sup- port sustainable forest management are illustrated. APPs developed to acquire field plots data to simulate manage- ment operations, the application of photogrammetric tech- nologies from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and TLS data for monitoring with high-spatial scale forest monitoring and for acquiring indicators at single tree level are presented. A de- tailed description of new user-friendly tools for forest roadplanning, design and construction, as well as forest opera- tion planning is also included. Precision forest tree farming (with particular reference to poplar cultivation), useful to promote and increase the prof- itability and sustainability of forest plantations within the Italian context is described in chapter 6. The innovation and enhancement within the supply chain of wood plantations (from planting to harvesting, including monitoring and identification of stress) by soil proximal sensing techniques, Early Warning Systems, and specific software are highlight- ed. Considering the even higher market demands, promoted by the large-scale planting programs for climate changes mit- igation and the demands for propagation material for en- vironmental recovery, innovative techniques and methods supported by ICT in the forest nursery sector are described in chapter 7. In chapter 8 available technologies related to precision har- vesting are analyzed and described taking into consideration the wood chain efficiency, by means of improved commu- nications between the owner/buyer and operators as well as among machineries used in forest operations, health and safety of forest operators, environmental impacts mitigation and recovery, and operators training. Advanced communi- cation systems and sensors for the exchange of data and information between machines, machine-equipments and/or machine-operators, teleoperations and automation are also described. Chapters 9 and 10 are related to wood products traceabil- ity, timber quality assessment as well as the technologies for the optimization of wood transformation processes. The concepts of wood product traceability and tracing, togeth- er with latest digital technologies for the identification and tracking of the logs (i.e., fingerprinting and RFID), are de- tailly reported. Chapter 11 is finally dedicated to the relationship between the EU policy framework and the digitalization process in both agricultural and forestry sectors. The book summarizes, under a proactive and homogeneous framework, PF methods, tools and technologies in relation with the digital transition of the Italian forestry sectors. The authors hope this book will be useful for improving the implementation of sustainable forest management practic- es at all levels in Italy, providing a comprehensive review useful for policy makers, technicians, forestry owners and students