MAIN GOAL AND SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF LANDSCAPE BREEDING
Our main goal is to develop a digitized game-changing tree breeding strategy that overcomes the limitations of conventional breeding. Landscape Breeding aims to accelerate forest tree improvement by operating directly on commercial forests and accounting for climatic and environmental variables. Norway spruce, the most economically important species in Sweden and model system in conifer genomics, is our study case. The specific objectives of the project are to:
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Build models from ultra-high-resolution remote sensing data to assess canopy, branch allometry, stem volume and quality in large, forested areas.
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Construct predictive models to assess frost damage and phyllosphere diseases traits from airborne multispectral high-resolution images.
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Integrate ultra-high-resolution laser scanner phenotyping, multispectral images, and molecular markers to monitor genetic diversity, estimate realized genetic gain and increase the accuracy of selection (Genomic Selection) to accelerate tree selection in commercial forests.
