483
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. J. Pastorino, P. Marchelli (eds.), Low Intensity Breeding of Native Forest
Trees in Argentina, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56462-9_18
Chapter 18
Questions, Perspectives and Final
Considerations of Planting Native
Species Under the Climate Change
Conditioning
Mario J. Pastorino, Paula Marchelli, Verónica Arana,
and Alejandro G. Aparicio
18.1 Genetic Considerations of Planting Native Species:
Maladaptation and Genetic Contamination
There is a growing interest in Argentina (and in the world) for planting native tree
species. This has triggered the development of domestication programs for those
species with greater productive potential or a key ecological value. Domestication
involves the development of technologies to bring wild species to plantation on an
industrial scale, for commercial purposes or for the restoration of ecosystems,
involving all stages of the biological/productive cycle. Knowledge is needed for
industrial production of seedlings, methods and designs of plantation, intermediate
silvicultural treatments, and the definition of rotation periods and adjustment of
harvesting practices. As well, it also includes a perhaps inconspicuous but essential
stage that predates all of these: the choice of genetic material to be reproduced.
The sympathy that society currently expresses for native species may lead to
believe that their plantation will always be positive. However, some genetic risks are
specifically caused by planting native species. If seedlings used in the plantation are
produced with seeds from a different forest than the local one, then processes may
occur that attempt against the planted seedlings themselves or, what is even worse,
against forests of the same species surrounding the plantation.
A wrong choice can lead to maladaptation processes that depress the vigor of the
implanted trees and even compromise their survival (McKay et al. 2005). In the case
of a commercial plantation, it can decrease its productivity to the point of representM. J. Pastorino (*) · P. Marchelli · V. Arana · A. G. Aparicio
Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB) INTA-CONICET,
Bariloche, Argentina
e-mail: pastorino.mario@inta.gob.ar
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. J. Pastorino, P. Marchelli (eds.), Low Intensity Breeding of Native Forest
Trees in Argentina, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56462-9_18
Chapter 18
Questions, Perspectives and Final
Considerations of Planting Native
Species Under the Climate Change
Conditioning
Mario J. Pastorino, Paula Marchelli, Verónica Arana,
and Alejandro G. Aparicio
18.1 Genetic Considerations of Planting Native Species:
Maladaptation and Genetic Contamination
There is a growing interest in Argentina (and in the world) for planting native tree
species. This has triggered the development of domestication programs for those
species with greater productive potential or a key ecological value. Domestication
involves the development of technologies to bring wild species to plantation on an
industrial scale, for commercial purposes or for the restoration of ecosystems,
involving all stages of the biological/productive cycle. Knowledge is needed for
industrial production of seedlings, methods and designs of plantation, intermediate
silvicultural treatments, and the definition of rotation periods and adjustment of
harvesting practices. As well, it also includes a perhaps inconspicuous but essential
stage that predates all of these: the choice of genetic material to be reproduced.
The sympathy that society currently expresses for native species may lead to
believe that their plantation will always be positive. However, some genetic risks are
specifically caused by planting native species. If seedlings used in the plantation are
produced with seeds from a different forest than the local one, then processes may
occur that attempt against the planted seedlings themselves or, what is even worse,
against forests of the same species surrounding the plantation.
A wrong choice can lead to maladaptation processes that depress the vigor of the
implanted trees and even compromise their survival (McKay et al. 2005). In the case
of a commercial plantation, it can decrease its productivity to the point of representM. J. Pastorino (*) · P. Marchelli · V. Arana · A. G. Aparicio
Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB) INTA-CONICET,
Bariloche, Argentina
e-mail: pastorino.mario@inta.gob.ar