Collection management of forest trees and shrubs

In vivo collections of various tree and shrub species have been built up at INBO since the middle of the last century. These collections form the basis of years of scientific research and breeding research (1948-2014) of deciduous and coniferous trees or were built in function of conservation and use of native trees and shrubs. Each collection consists of approximately 50 to a few 100 genotypes. Due to the discontinuation of all breeding programmes, many collections were in danger of being lost. This project aims to identify, maintain and manage all INBO collections of trees and shrubs. Pheno- and genotypic properties will be described in a data file. In situ collections will be vegetatively propagated and planted ex situ (INBO trial farm). The geographical coordinates of the collections planted on sites belonging to other owners (public and private) will be entered in the database. The collections will be managed in consultation with the owner or, if necessary, planted ex situ in the experimental farm.