Spectroscopic methods for rapid phenotyping of trees reflecting their ecological resilience
DENDRO-SPEC is a research project number 2021/43/I/NZ9/02809, which received funding from the National Science Center under the “OPUS 22 -LAP/WEAVE” competition.
Narodowe Centrum Nauki – “OPUS 22 -LAP/WEAVE”
The manager of this three-year project (2023-2025) is D.Sc. Pawel Kozakiewicz, prof. WULS-SGGW. The leader of the project is the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, including the Institute of Wood Sciences and Furniture and the Institute of Forest Sciences, and the partners are:
Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences – https://www.idpan.poznan.pl/ oraz
InnoRenew CoE from Slovenia – https://innorenew.eu/contact/
The overall objective of the DENDRO-SPEC project is to generate new knowledge allowing better understanding the effect of genetic variation in tree populations combined with stand conditions, silvicultural practices and local microclimate on mechanisms of xylogenesis and, consequently, characteristics of generated wood. For that reason, an innovative measurement protocol and original hardware set-up optimal for routine assessment of the wide range of wood properties will be developed. The prototype scanning system will integrate state-of-the-art near infrared spectroscopic technologies with cutting-edge data mining solutions. It will allow mapping a wide range of wood characteristics, considering the natural variability at the scale of a single tree as well as forest plot or even overall population. Research will be conducted on a unique sample set of Scots pine wood available as a result of the proceeding fifty-year in-field project experiment. It is expected that DENDRO-SPEC methodology will demonstrate its highest suitability toward fast, non-destructive and complete characterization of wood. Therefore, it will be adopted as a new standard in several ongoing national research initiatives covering numerous trial seed plantations in both Poland and Slovenia, not to mention other locations in the world. Consequently, the spectroscopic system will allow detailed characterization of several thousand planted trees distributed around the whole country within seed collection stations, mother forests or experimental fields.
