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The 8th international symposium of IUFRO Working Group S2.02.07 – Larch Breeding and Genetic Resources. Hallormsstaðaskógur National Forest, Iceland, 11 - 13 September 2012.

Summing up

The symposium started with a delay caused by the worst early autumn snowstorm in recent decades on 10 September. It only snowed in North Iceland but heavy winds caused flight cancellations. After that we had one sunny day, two rainy days and a foggy day for the final excursion. With the exception of the snowstorm, fairly typical September weather for Iceland.

With good cooperation from the speakers, the delay was made up in the presentation sessions over the next two days. The presentations were varied and interesting. They are presented here both as abstracts and slide shows.

Excursions are important parts of most conferences, perhaps more so for this one than most others since it isn´t often that most people have a chance to visit Iceland. The symposium was held in Hallormsstaðaskogur, Iceland´s first national forest protected since 1905. It is also the area that has seen the most extensive planting of larch and contains some of the oldest examples in Iceland of Larix sibirica, L. sukaczewii, L. gmelinii, L. decidua, L. laricina and L. lyallii. Thus, both lecture-session days ended in walks in the woods, there was a day-long excursion in the area and an optional excursion to North Iceland after the conference. Excursion information is included here.

Thanks go to working group S2.02.07 chairman Luc E. Paques for suggesting Iceland and to all the participants for a good symposium. Thanks also to the staff at Hotel Hallormsstaður for taking goor care of us and Tanni Travel bus service. Special thanks to Jón Loftsson, Director of the Icelandic Forest Service, for his support, to Þór Þorfinnsson, Bergrún Arna Þorsteinsdóttir and others on the staff at Hallormsstaðaskógur, to the staff at Vaglaskógur, to Sherry Curl, Hlynur Sigurðsson and Ólöf Sigurbjartsdóttir at Héraðs- og Austurlandsskógar regional afforestation project and to Esther Ösp Gunnarsdóttir, Aðalheiður Bergfoss, Anna Pálína Jónsdóttir, Vala Garðarsdóttir, Lárus Heiðarsson and Gunnlaugur Guðjónsson at the Icelandic Forest Service head office for their invaluable work in preparing and carrying out the symposium.     

Þröstur Eysteinsson
Symposium organiser
Division Chief, National Forests
Iceland Forest Service

 

Documents

 

Monday, 10 September

  Arrival in Egilsstadir, bus to Hotel Hallormsstadur
20:00 Evening icebreaker

Tuesday, 11 September

Session 1

Chairperson: Sigvaldi Ásgeirsson

 
9:00 Welcoming address – Jón Loftsson, Director of the Iceland Forest Service  
9:15 Þröstur Eysteinsson – Icelandic forestry – past, present and future PDF
9:45 Brynjar Skúlason, Bergsveinn Þórsson, Rakel Jónsdóttir and Valgerður Jónsdóttir - Use of Russian larch in forestry in North Iceland PDF
10:15 Coffee break  
10:30 Owe Martinsson - Yield of larch hybrids in northern Scandinavia PDF
11:00 Sven de Vries - Use and improvement of larch in The Netherlands PDF
11:30 Gwenael Philippe, S. Matz, C.Buret and L.E. Pâques - Specific purity of hybrid larch forest reproductive materials: how much does it matter? PDF
12:00 Lunch  

Session 2

Chairperson: Hlynur Gauti Sigurðsson

 
13:00 Lars Karlman and Christer Karlsson - European larch – a potential exotic species for northern Sweden? PDF
13:30 Guðríður Gyða Eyjólfsdóttir - Fungi in Larix plantations in Iceland PDF
14:00 Maria Rudawska and Tomasz Leski - Mycorrhizal symbiosis of European larch: from seedlings to mature trees PDF
14:30 Edda Sigurdís Oddsdóttir - The effects of afforestation with Larix on soil arthropods PDF
15:00 Coffee break  
15:15 Brynja Hrafnkelsdóttir - The effects of afforestation with Larix on mycorrhizal density PDF
15:45 Aðalsteinn Sigurgeirsson Brynhildur Bjarnadóttir - Carbon stocks and fluxes in a young Siberian larch (Larix sibirica) plantation in Iceland PDF
16:45- 18:30 A walk in the woods (optional)  
19:30 Dinner  

Wednesday, 12 September

Session 3

Chariperson: Edda Sigurdís Oddsdóttir

 
9:00 Lárus Heiðarsson and Timo Pukkala - Models for simulating the temporal development of Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) plantations in Hallormsstaður Iceland PDF
9:30 Ryogo Nakada - Characterising Larix kaempferi among conifers in heartwood properties PDF
10:00 Katsuhiko Takata, Gabriella Gärds, Sakae Shibutani, Kazuhito Kita, and Kazuko Uchiyama - Effect of the flavonoids in heartwood on decay resistance of hybrid larches (L. kaempferi x L. gmelinii, and L. gmelinii x L. kaempferi)  
10:30 Coffee break  
10:45 Galina F. Antonova, Irina A. Chapligina, Victoria V. Stasova - The metabolites in developing xylem cells of annual ring in Larix sibirica stem PDF
11:15 Elena N. Muratova, Olga V. Goryachkina, Tamara S. Sedelnikova, Alexander V. Pimenov - Karyological studies on Larix species in connection with adaptation to different environments  
11:45 Maxime Nardin, Luc E. Pâques, Leopoldo Sanchez, Frédéric Huard, Jean-Paul Charpentier, Sara Marin, Nathalie Mayeur, Philippe Rozenberg - How climate influences the phenotypic variability of larch along an altitudinal gradient PDF
12:15 Lunch  

Session 4

Chairperson: Aðalsteinn Sigurgeirsson

 
13:30 Luc E. Pâques - Drought impact on growth and wood properties of larch PDF
14:00 Sandra Karanitsch-Ackerl, Johannes Tintner, Silvio Schüler and Michael Grabner - Influence of drought on ring width and wood density of hybrid larch (Larix decidua x kaempferi) in Eastern Austria PDF
14:30 Páll Sigurðsson - Crookedness in Larix in plantations in Iceland PDF
15:00 Coffee break  
15:15 Thröstur Eysteinsson – Spring and autumn frost damage to Russian larch provenances connected to weather events PDF
15:45 Owe Martinsson - The circumpolar progeny test of Siberian larch species of 2003 - sugestions for international cooperation PDF
16:15 Discussion  
17:00 – 18:30 Another walk in the woods (optional)  
18:30 Trip to the airport for those not staying longer  
     

Thursday, 13 September

8:00 – 17:00 Excursion (larch plantations, experimental sites, progeny trial, forest managemant, wood utilisation and more)  
18:30 Trip to the airport for those not going on the trip on Friday  
19:00 Dinner  

Friday, 14 September

8:00 – 17:00 Optional post-symposium trip Hallormsstadur – Mývatn – Fnjóskadalur – Akureyri (includes interior highland deserts, volcanos, hot springs, lava, forests, indoor seed orchard, Siblarch provenance trial and more). The trip ends in Akureyri.