The acceleration of climate change is significantly increasing the biotic and abiotic pressures on our forests. As a result, forest managers must adapt their practices and are seeking new solutions to continue managing forest resources sustainably.

The consequences of multiple environmental threats (more frequent, prolonged, and intense soil droughts, emergence/introduction of new pathogens/pests, etc.) on forest growth and persistence need to be better assessed.
The ACORE team aims to deeply understand these impacts and propose tools to support adaptive forest management practices, based on:

• The study of adaptive capacities of forest species (genetic adaptations to the environment, phenotypic plasticity, gene flow, genotype x environment interactions, etc.)
• The study of reproduction: seed development, monitoring of natural regeneration, etc.

The ACORE team contributes to these objectives mainly through three approaches:

1. Improvement of forest species of silvicultural interest: development of forest reproductive material (seed orchards, clones, selected stands).
2. Conservation of genetic diversity: implementation of in-situ conservation systems (conservation units) or ex-situ (collections).
3. Assisted migration: assisted gene flow (provenance selection), range expansion (species selection).

To conduct its research, the ACORE team relies on modeling approaches, laboratory work, and the implementation of long-term monitoring. These include large-scale experimental setups, natural population monitoring, and participatory science approaches. The value of these studies is enhanced by technical expertise both in the field (dendrometric measurements, sample collection, etc.) and in the laboratory (biochemical characterization, cell biology, phytopathology, genotyping, somatic embryogenesis, near and mid-infrared spectrometry, etc.).

Thanks to its expertise, the ACORE team is involved in supporting public policy through agreements with the Ministry in charge of Forests and the participation of some of its members in technical committees (CTC VG, CTPS, CRGF, etc.).

The ACORE team mainly works on the following species:

• Breeding programs: Larch, Poplar, Ash, Wild Cherry, Douglas Fir, Scots Pine, and orphan species.
• Conservation program: Black Poplar, Sessile Oak, Beech, Ash, Scots Pine, and southern species.

Managers

Philippe Rozenberg and Luc Pâques

Members

Permanents staff  : Valentin BOUTTIER (Ch R&D), Thibaud CHAUVIN (ChR&D), Armelle DELILE (TREx), Jean-François DHOTE (DR2, HDR), Arnaud DOWKIW (CRCN), Rémy GOBIN (IR2), Bénédicte LE GUERROUE (Ass R&D), Marie-Anne LELU-WALTER (Ch Mis), Titouan MOUGIN (Ass R&D), Brigitte MUSCH (Ch R&D), Luc PAQUES (DR2, HDR), Céline RIDEL (TREx), Yves ROUSSELLE (Ch R&D), Frédérique SANTI (CRCN), Caroline TEYSSIER (CRHC, HDR), Marc VILLAR (Ch Mis)

Non-permanents staff : Océane PARTHENAY (Doctorante), Adrien DEBAS (Apprenti), Simon STRIPPOLI (Apprenti), Élise CADIOU (Master 2), Jeanne DE MONTAIGNE DE PONCINS (Master 2), Azedine HADJ MOHAND (Master 2), Tanghi NOQUET (BUT), David CHASSAGNAUD (CDD), Olivier LEFLON (CDD)

Keywords

Forest adaptation to climate change, modeling, experimental design, phenotypic plasticity, GxE, hybridization, host-pathogen interactions, seeds, forest genetic resources, forest reproductive material, conservation, embryogenesis, assisted migration, participatory breeding...