title: Forest genetic monitoring: an overview of concepts and definitions.
abstract: Safeguarding sustainability of forest ecosystems with their habitat variability and all their functions is of highest priority. Therefore, the long-term adaptability of forest ecosystems to a changing environment must be secured, e.g., through sustainable forest management. High adaptability is based on biological variation starting at the genetic level. Thus, the ultimate goal of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to halt the ongoing erosion of biological variation is of utmost importance for forest ecosystem functioning and sustainability. Monitoring of biological diversity over time is needed to detect changes that threaten these biological resources. Genetic variation, as an integral part of biological diversity, needs special attention, and its monitoring can ensure its effective conservation. We compare forest genetic monitoring to other biodiversity monitoring concepts. Forest genetic monitoring (FGM) enables early detection of potentially harmful changes of forest adaptability before these appear at higher biodiversity levels (e.g., species or ecosystem diversity) and can improve the sustainability of applied forest management practices and direct further research. Theoretical genetic monitoring concepts developed up to now need to be evaluated before being implemented on a national and international scale. This article provides an overview of FGM concepts and definitions, discusses their advantages and disadvantages, and provides a flow chart of the steps needed for the optimization and implementation of FGM. FGM is an important module of biodiversity monitoring, and we define an effective FGM scheme as consisting of an assessment of a forest population's capacity to survive, reproduce, and persist under rapid environmental changes on a long-term scale.
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Office for Forest Seeding and Planting, Forstamtsplatz 1, 83317, Teisendorf, Germany. Barbara.Fussi@asp.bayern.de.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7104-3935
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fussi
authors.affiliation: Slovenian Forestry Institute, Vecna pot 2, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Marjana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Westergren
authors.affiliation: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 541 24, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Filippos
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aravanopoulos
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Office for Forest Seeding and Planting, Forstamtsplatz 1, 83317, Teisendorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baier
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Office for Forest Seeding and Planting, Forstamtsplatz 1, 83317, Teisendorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Darius
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kavaliauskas
authors.affiliation: Slovenian Forestry Institute, Vecna pot 2, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Domen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Finzgar
authors.affiliation: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 541 24, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Paraskevi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alizoti
authors.affiliation: Slovenian Forestry Institute, Vecna pot 2, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Gregor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bozic
authors.affiliation: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 541 24, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Evangelia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Avramidou
authors.affiliation: Bavarian Office for Forest Seeding and Planting, Forstamtsplatz 1, 83317, Teisendorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Konnert
authors.affiliation: Slovenian Forestry Institute, Vecna pot 2, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Hojka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kraigher
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005060:Europe; D065928:Forests; D014644:Genetic Variation; D011050:Policy Making; D014197:Trees / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development
keywords: FGM; Forest genetic resources; Genetic diversity; Indicators; Management; Verifiers