Genetic Diversity in Thuja plicata planted stands
This work is based on the hypothesis that low standing genetic diversity may be present in T. plicata in woodlands being converted to a Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) regime, together with human selective harvesting selection and logging of individual trees may result in naturally-regenerated juveniles with an even narrower genetic base or a low potential to adapt to changing conditions. In this project we looked at planted T. plicata trees from several woodlands and conducted an SNP discovery step by using GBS and subsequently selected a subset of informative SNP markers for larger scale genotyping. The overarching goal of this study is to assess the differences in genetic diversity between planted trees and their offspring considering four different T. plicata plantations in the UK.