Research Areas
CAFS Members and Academic Partners collaborate to identify and address pressing research needs that are of interest to industry and academia. CAFS scientists approach the research on multiple scales, from molecular, cellular, individual-tree, stand, to ecosytem level.
Highlights from current CAFS projects:
Developing Varietal Precision Silvicultural Regimes in Pine and Hardwood Plantations Based on Crown Ideotype
— will enable to more efficiently screen clones for operational deployment, and develop site-specific silvicultural regimes to optimize growth of specific varieties.
Effects of Site and Genetics on Douglas-fir Growth, Stem Quality, and Adaptability
— will enhance the ability to predict the growth, stem quality, and adaptability of Douglas-fir plantations, refine breeding and deployment zones, and understand the potential effects of climate change.
Flowering Control in Fine Hardwood Trees
— provides a robust system for prevention of transgene escape from tree plantations, which is likely to be a prerequisite for commercial deployment of genetically engineered trees.
Regulation of Heartwood Formation in Black Walnut
— narrows the search for genes that regulate the shift from living to dead wood, creating opportunities to manipulate the process, and sheds light on the regulation of plant cell death in response to pathogens or stress.
Influence of phyB Genes on Stem Form in Poplar
— useful for intentional marker-based or transgenic breeding to produce desired tree ideotypes, potentially leading to higher harvest index for bioenergy and pulp plantations.
Developing Growth and Yield Predictions for Diverse Genotypes and Silvicultural Practices
— will allow members to reliably estimate wood volume and quality for a spectrum of genotypes and management inputs.
Developing Growth and Yield Predictions for Enhanced Genotypes
— to improve growth and yield systems for predictions associated with enhanced genetic stock including Mass Controlled Pollinated Stock (MCP) and varietal stock.
Refinement of Regional Growth and Yield Models for Naturally-Regenerated, Mixed Species Stands in the Northeast
— focuses on the construction of annualized, distance-independent, individual tree diameter and height growth equations for the primary commercial species in Maine.
Developing Improved Understanding of Relationships between Stand Response to Thinning and Post-thinning Treatments
— to develop improved understanding of how stand, crown, leaf area, and light interception attributes affect stand dynamics following thinning and post-thinning treatments.
Evaluation of the Potential Productivity of Loblolly Pine in Southeastern US using a Twin-Plot Approach across Geological-Climatic Gradients
— to provide enough information to determine the gap and address the main constraints to forest productivity across sites, providing a clear dataset to validate G&Ys and PB Models indicated for Loblolly Pine.
Integrating Wood Quality Predictions into Growth and Yield Models for Evaluating Advanced Genotypes and Silvicultural Responses
— for prediction tools that will be integrated with current and developing growth and yield models for estimating growth response and wood properties for southern pines grown under advanced regimes.
Understanding Site-Specific Factors Affecting the Nutrient Demands and Response to Fertilizer by Douglas-fir
— to measure general response to N fertilization and identify specific site characteristics that may predict productivity and response.
Modeling the Effects of Intensive Plantation Silviculture on Wood Density, Stiffness, Knots, and Other Properties
Remote Sensing for Measuring and Monitoring the Response of Plantations to Intensive Management