Concept for Genetic Monitoring of Hemiboreal Tree Dynamics in Lithuania

Abstract

In this review, we focus on the importance of the dynamics of hemiboreal trees in the existing forest landscape and habitats for the genetic monitoring of community phenology, in order to obtain characteristic plant cycles as well as their responses to seasonal and climatic changes. The goal of our review is to: (i) determine the regenerative behaviour of hemiboreal tree species, (ii) propose a concept for the genetic monitoring of tree dynamics in the main forest habitat types of Lithuania’s forest landscape based on field observations, e.g., community phenology, and (iii) discuss ways of forest self-regulation, natural regeneration, and reproduction. We have chosen Lithuania as a case study for this review because it is a Northern European country that falls completely within the hemiboreal forest zone, which is often overlooked in terms of climate change effects. Our review highlights the importance of understanding the genetic responses of individual tree species and how they interact in the forest community after disturbance, as well as the need to sustainably monitor them at habitat and landscape scales. To enhance the adaptive potential and associated ecosystem services of forests, we propose the development of landscape-genetic monitoring of the differential dynamic properties of ecosystems.