The Tree Improvement Committee, society of American forester
The Tree Improvement Committee is made up of scientists engaged in forest tree improvement research representing all sections of the United States and adjacent Canadian provinces. This report was prepared by John C. Barber with the assistance of other committee members.
Points to consider in making requests
WORKERS in forest tree improvement and refuted fields are frequently called upon to supply seed, pollen, and propagating materials to persons throughout the world. Many persons request materials for a multitude of reasons. The purpose of this note is to provide some guidelines for making such requests so that they can be handled more efficiently by the collecting agency, and researchers receive materials more suitable for their use.
The intention of this paper is not to cover the area of provenance research being developed by a Working Group on Provenance Research and Testing of Section 22 of IUFRO (International Union of Forestry Research Organizations). This working group, under the chairmanship of Dr. Miroslav Vyskot of Czechoslovakia, 1 is concerned with
1. the standardization of methods for describing proveniences and measuring provenance tests;2. the best methods of exchanging seeds on an international scale for new provenance tests.
1 Other members of the committee are: Karel Kanak, Czechoslovakia; O. Langlet, Sweden; O. Schrock, Eastern Germany; A. D. Bukstynov, U.S.S.R.; P. Bouvarel, France; M. Y. Edwards, United Kingdom; Bruce Zobel and P. O. Rudolf, United States; I. J. Thulin, New Zealand; and L. D. Pryor, Australia.
Requests for seed and pollen necessitate added work during the peak season for moat tree improvement and genetics projects. Requests can be filled moat efficiently when the collector knows the specific use planned for the material. In making a request, the following items should be considered:
Number of requests. Requests should be made to a single agency in one geographic area. It is best not to ask several persons or agencies for the same collection. Forest tree improvement workers in the United States ² maintain close contact with one another, and make every possible effort to fulfill collections through co-operation if they cannot handle them. All ordinary foreign requests through the United States Forest Service should go directly to the Chief, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington 25, D.C. They will be forwarded to the field unit in the beat position to fill them. Only by special arrangement should requests be made to a particular field unit.² Names and addresses of appropriate workers may be found in "Directory of research workers in forest genetics and related fields. Part 2" United States of America. J. For. 60: 623-629.
Reason for requests. Descriptive information about the planned use of the material should be included with each request. The collector should know whether the material is to be used for arboreta, provenance trials, demonstration plantings, breeding work, etc. Information about the scope, size, and objectives of the study would be helpful.
Time of requests. Collectors should receive requests several months in advance of collection time. Then they may determine the availability of the material while engaged in normal field work, and they may make special arrangements for collection where difficulties are anticipated. Requests for seed should reach collectors at least six months before seed ripens. In the United States that would mean most requests for coniferous seed should arrive no later than March: 1 July should be considered an absolute deadline. Requests for pollen should also be received several months in advance. For the southern pines, requests should be received by November. For some of the northern and western species where pollen ripening is late, requests might be submitted as late as March.
Dates needed. Requests should show the expected date of use of the material. Then extraction, cleaning, and shipment can be expedited where necessary. This is particularly important for requests from the southern hemisphere for fresh materials to be collected in the northern hemisphere. Estimated date of pollinations is also very important when requesting pollen to insure proper scheduling of shipments.
Identification. Requests should clearly identify required species and varieties by scientific names and their authors. If possible, the scientific names should be given in accordance with Little. ³
³ Little, Elbert L. Jr., 1953. Check list of native and naturalized trees of the United States (including Alaska): U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Agricultural Handbook 41, 472 p.
Geographic range of species. Before requests are made, the geographic range of the desired species should be checked to ensure that the request is not impossible to fulfill and does not greatly inconvenience the collector. Geographic ranges may be determined from the series of silvical leaflets published by the several U.S. Forest Service experiment stations. Often authoritative regional/botanical studies or monographs are available. Furthermore, it should be remembered that some species are rare near the extremities of their natural range, and this creates special problems of locating material to sample.
Precision of location. The request should indicate the place where collection should be made, and should indicate any tolerance for deviation from the specified location and elevation from which material will be acceptable. It will often be easier to fill requests if the collector is given leeway on the area and elevation of collection. When pollen or seed crops are periodic, there may be none available from a specific area, but may be available nearby. Geographic isolation may also make it impossible to schedule collections satisfactorily. Requests should place as few restrictions as possible on location and elevation.
Desired trees. Requests should not ask for more precision of tree selection than is absolutely needed. Many requests can be filled from seed and pollen on hand. The request should state the minimum number and spatial arrangement of trees acceptable in composite collections. This will vary with the intended use of the material. Specifications as to the number of trees, and parent tree types, add greatly to the costs of the collector. Often they make it difficult or impossible to collect.
Lot size. Most tree improvement projects are not in a position to furnish more than a few ounces of seed or pollen, so that request should be made only for what is needed. For seed requests, the lot size should be specified in number of germinable seed or seedlings needed. Weight of seed is a poor measure because of variation in size and germination. Requests for commercial quantities of seed and pollen for pilot tests should be made directly to commercial dealers. Lists of dealers are available from the U.S. Forest Service and are published periodically in Tree planters notes.
Shipment handling. The request should specify any special handling needed during collection and the method of shipment and special tagging or packaging needed. A proper import permit should be included with the request if it is required by the receiving country. This is especially important for material which has to clear customs and plant quarantine inspections.
Quarantine. Vegetative materials should not be requested unless adequate quarantine measures exist to prevent the introduction of diseases and insects. Indiscriminate movement of pollen should also be restricted because most pollens are contaminated with fungus spores, and insects or their eggs may be present.
Documentation. A "collection data" form similar to Figure 1 should be used to provide identification of material. Notification of shipment should be sent by the collector, and receipt of material should be acknowledged; some indication should be given at a later date of the success or failure of the material.
Forest tree improvement workers throughout the world have been setting a fine example by furnishing seed, pollen, and other materials to one another on a co-operative basis. Such efforts make it possible for all of us to achieve maximum progress in our goal of developing improved forest trees. Unfortunately, many requests are made in such a general fashion that it is impossible to tell exactly what the requester wants and what use he will make of the material. Often legitimate requests for material needed in research programs do not receive proper attention because of this lack of description. In contrast, requests are sometimes received for exacting collections of material that may be used simply in an arboretum. It is hoped that the points described in this article will help to improve the requesting procedures and expedite the fulfillment of those requests.
COLLECTION DATA - Suggested form for documenting seed collections. (Prepared by the Committee on Forest Tree Improvement, Society of American Foresters)
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SPECIES: |
Scientific name and author________________________________________________________ |
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Common name_________________________________________________________________ |
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ORIGIN:
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Country___________________ |
State or province______ |
County______________________ |
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Latitude___________________ |
Longitude____________ |
Elevation______ feet or meters |
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Detailed location (section, township, range, meridian; direction and distance to town or other landmark)_____________________________________________________________________ |
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Slope direction |
Slope steepness __________________________________% |
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Forest type________________ |
SAF type number______ |
Site index_____ |
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Soil pH (basic, neutral, acidic)______________________________________________________ |
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Soil moisture-site condition (dry, moist, wet)___________________________________________ |
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Other tree species in stand________________________________________________________ |
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COLLECTION: |
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Date of collection____________________________________ |
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Number trees in collection___________________________ |
Age________________________ |
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Average height_____________ |
Average diameter_____ |
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Cross out word NOT applicable: |
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Collected from: (standing trees) (felled trees) (rodent caches) |
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Trees are in: (plantations) (natural stance) |
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Trees are in: (open) (thin stands) (dense stands) |
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Shedding of seed or fruit: (not started) (starting) (underway) (complete) |
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Method of extraction: (air dried) (kiln dried at ____°C.) |
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REMARKS: |
(crown form, branching, rigor, disease, insect damage, etc.) |
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_____________________________________________________________________________ |
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_____________________________________________________________________________ |
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_____________________________________________________________________________ |
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Date____________________________________________ |
Signatures: (Collector)________________________________ |
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Address_________________________________________ |
Signatures: (Dealer)_________________________________ |
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________________________________________________ |
Signatures: (Forester)________________________________ |
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