Did you know...

Five quick facts about forest genetics and the Swedish Forestry.

Photo: Malin Gröndal
  • 380 million seedlings are planted in Sweden every year. Almost all of them are bred!
  • Breeding entails cross-fertilising two trees that have good properties. Their offspring are planted out in different environments, and the parents of the ones that cope best are then used to produce new seedlings.
  • After studying them for about 15 years, it’s possible to determine which offspring has the best parents and should be used to breed new trees.
  • Breeding of spruce and Scots pine began in the 1940s by walking through the forest and selecting the best trees. They were grafted onto regular trees to make them genetic copies, and were then cross-bred.
  • 1999 – The year UPSC was founded. UPSC then became the first in the world to map a coniferous tree’s genome, the Swedish spruce, and is currently working to do the same with the Scots pine. This work will help to better understand genetic variation in trees, and the link between genes and properties.