Monday 27 January 2020

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm : Welcome Coffee / Tea

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Amphi 2E07

2:00 pm - 5:30 pm : GenTree Final General Assembly

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Amphi 2E07

GenTree Final General Assembly

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm : An ice-breaker cocktail party

The cocktail party is offered by the Mayor of the city of Avignon, at the Salle des Fêtes of the City Hall.

Tuesday 28 January 2020

8:50 am - 12:30 pm : Conference session 1: GENOMES and the ENVIRONMENT

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06

Session leaders: Prof. Martin Lascoux (University of Uppsala, Sweden) & Dr. Christian Rellstab (WSL Zürich, Switzerland)

Variation in phenotypic and fitness traits is the result of a complex interplay between environment and genome. Disentangling the relative roles of environment and genetic variation in shaping past and present phenotypic variation is therefore crucial to be able to predict the effect of future climate change or characterize the genetic architecture of quantitative traits. In the present session addressing this topic, we will cover recent advances and insights from various study systems including non-tree species. Special attention will be paid to issues related to polygenic adaptation, the confounding effect of population genetic structure, and the spatial and temporal scales on which evolutionary forces operate. Studies using theoretical and/or empirical data are welcome.

08:50 am - 09:20 am - Welcome addresses by the President of Avignon University, the President of INRAE (former INRA) - Provence Region and the coordinator of GenTree and conference chairman

09:20 am - 10:00 am - KEYNOTE SPEECH by : Dr Antoine Kremer (INRA Bordeaux, France)

10:00 am - 10:20 am - ORAL PRESENTATION: Spatial genetic structure of European beech and outlier SNPs analysis of multiple European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) population... - Ulaszewski Bartosz

10:20 am - 11:40 am - ORAL PRESENTATION: Genomics of clinal local adaptation in Pinus sylvestris under continuous environmental and spatial genetic setting - Tanja Pyhäjärvi

10:40 am - 11:00 am - ORAL PRESENTATION: Genomic data provides new insights on the demographic history, local adaptation pattern and genetic basis of quantitative traits... - Pascal Milesi

11:00 am - 11:30 am : Coffee / Tea break - Poster session

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06 hall and adjoining rooms 126, 128 and 129

11:30 am - 12:30 pm : Conference session 1: GENOMES and the ENVIRONMENT - continued

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06

11:30 am - 11:50 am - ORAL PRESENTATION: Comparative demography of seven tree species across Europe - Martin Lascoux

11:50 am - 12:10 am - ORAL PRESENTATION: Range wide genetic variation and divergence in Pinus pinaster elucidated by gene capture data - Katharina Birgit Budde

12:10 am - 12:30 am - ORAL PRESENTATION: Range-wide signatures of drought adaptation in two widespread European Fagaceae using environmental, genomic, and phenotypic data - Benjamin Dauphin

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12:30 pm - 2:00 pm : Lunch Break

University restaurant Crous

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2:00 pm - 6:00 pm : Conference session 2: LOCAL ADAPTATION of CLIMATE CHANGE-RELATED TRAITS

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06

Session leaders: Dr. Raquel Benavides (CSIC Madrid, Spain) & Dr. Santiago C. Gonzalez-Martinez (INRA Bordeaux, France).

Climate change and related processes (e.g. forest fires and outbreaks of new pests and diseases) impose a strong selective pressure on natural ecosystems. Forest trees have survived through past climatic oscillations either by migration or local adaptation. Large amounts of within-population genetic variability and gene flow could allow forest trees to adapt in situ, but this process would need to take place at unprecedented speed, in only one or two generations. Evidence for rapid adaptation in forest trees is still lacking for most species and environments. Moreover, the way local adaptation takes place in forest trees is not well-understood, including important questions such as the role of genes with major effect on adaptive traits vs. polygenic adaptation and the importance of negative selection (i.e. selection against individuals with higher genetic load). Finally, the phenotypic traits relevant for adaptation may be different from those that are currently under study, as work has focused on productive traits in main tree crops (e.g. growth, wood properties), but only few traits relevant for increased forest resilience and health have been addressed, in particular in non-commercial species. We also lack holistic approaches that consider the forest as a whole, i.e. including antagonistic and mutualistic interactions among species and individuals.

In this Session, we will explore how phenotypic traits vary, how trees adapt to climate and whether they will be able to keep pace with the current accelerating climate change. We welcome talks including theoretical (modelling) and experimental approaches based on both genomics and quantitative genetics. In particular, we will address traits that may contribute to higher forest resilience, such as tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress and reproduction, and the role of inter- and intra-species biotic interactions.

02:00 pm - 02:40 pm - KEYNOTE SPEECH by: Prof. Andrew J. Eckert (Virginia Commonwealth University, USA)

02:40 pm - 03:00 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Local adaptation, phenotypic plasticity or both ? - Natalia Vizcaino Palomar

03:00 pm - 03:20 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Tree growth sensitivity to climate change: disentangling the role of climate determinism and site-specific characteristics - Elisabet Martínez Sancho

03:20 pm - 03:40 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Increased drought-induced tree mortality occurrence in the rear edge but mortality abundance did not show clear patterns on Euro... - Alexandre Changenet

3:40 pm - 4:10 pm : Coffee / Tea break - Poster session

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06 hall and adjoining rooms 126, 128 and 129

4:10 pm - 6:00 pm : Conference session 2: LOCAL ADAPTATION of CLIMATE CHANGE-RELATED TRAITS - continued

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06

04:10 pm - 04:30 - pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Adaptive rangewide latitudinal divergence but no evidence of finer-scale local adaptation in early-life traits in Pinus sylvestris - José Alberto Ramírez-Valiente

04:30 pm - 04:50 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Inter and intra-population genetic variation in early fitness traits in Betula pendula along a latitudinal gradient including ma... - Aida Solé Medina

04:50 pm - 05:10 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: A theoretical study of the effects of assortative mating on the adaptive potential under climate change - Claire Godineau

05:10 pm - 05:30 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Microgeographic adaptation and the effect of pollen flow on the adaptive potential of a temperate tree species. - Julie Gauzère

Wednesday 29 January 2020

9:00 am - 12:30 pm : Conference session 3: CONSERVING and USING GENETIC DIVERSITY

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06

Session leaders: Prof. Phil Aravanopoulos (University of Thessaloniki, Greece) & Dr. Delphine Grivet (INIA Madrid, Spain)

Genetic diversity is a key component for survival, adaptation and evolution in response to abiotic and biotic stresses, especially as environmental change becomes more prominent and severe. Technological advances provide an unprecedented glimpse at neutral and adaptive genomic regions, therefore allowing a more precise characterization of genetic resources. New genetically-informed approaches are permitting researchers to harness natural genetic variation in various fields using gene resources from different perspectives, such as gene conservation, management and improvement. Novel strategies for the dynamic conservation of plant genetic resources taking into account the adaptive potential of populations are around the corner. This requires the integration of various fields not always considered as part of the same strategy. This session will debate how the future efforts of the long-term conservation, monitoring and management of genetic resources, will integrate population and conservation genomics approaches along with molecular ecology, ecological modelling and breeding. This session focuses but is not limited to forest trees. Both theoretical and empirical communications are welcome.

09h00 - 09h40 - KEYNOTE SPEECH by: Dr Joëlle Ronfort (INRA Montpellier, France)

09h40 - 10h00 - ORAL PRESENTATION: Geographic and environmental determinants of neutral and adaptive genomic variation in Swiss stone pine - Christian Rellstab

10h00  - 10h20 - ORAL PRESENTATION: Conserving genetic diversity in botanic gardens: calculating how much to conserve - Sean Hoban

10h20 - 10h40 - ORAL PRESENTATION: How genetic variability can reduce Fagus sylvatica's vulnerability to climate change. - Cathleen Petit-Cailleux

10:40 am - 11:10 am : Coffee / Tea break - Poster session

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Amphi AT06 hall and adjoining rooms 126, 128 and 129

11:10 am - 12:30 pm : Conference session 3: CONSERVING and USING GENETIC DIVERSITY - continued

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06

11:10 am – 11:30 am - ORAL PRESENTATION: Can adapted oaks on relict sites help sustainable forest management in a changing climate? - Charalambos Neophytou

11:30 am - 11:50 am - ORAL PRESENTATION: Selective breeding produces multi-locus responses in adaptive genomic variation of lodgepole pine - Ian MacLachlan

11:50 am - 12:10 am - ORAL PRESENTATION: Breeding of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) in the face of ash dieback - Erik Dahl Kjaer

12:10 am - 12:30 am - ORAL PRESENTATION: Approaches to ensure ex situ conservation activities capture forest genetic diversity: sharing experiences from the UK National... - Clare Trivedi

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12:30 pm - 2:00 pm : Lunch Break

University restaurant Crous

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2:00 pm - 6:00 pm : Conference session 4: EVOLUTIONARY MANAGEMENT of FORESTS

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06

Session leaders: Dr. Barbara Vinceti (Bioversity International, Rome, Italy) & Dr. Marcus Lindner (EFI, Bonn, Germany)

Climate change, with extreme events such as heat waves and extended droughts, has a major impact on forests and threatens the delivery of the ecosystem services they provide. These aspects pose also important evolutionary challenges to individual tree species and populations, which respond in different ways to pressures: acclimation, genetic adaptation, range shift and local or global extinction leading to community turnover. Practice in conservation and sustainable use of forests needs to deal with environmental changes of uncertain magnitude and scale. Adequate forest management responses should consider the diversity of forest community types and silviculture regimes, and how these interact with natural evolutionary processes. Forest management can contribute to speeding up adaptation of forest to changing environmental regimes, identifying locally relevant options, such as for example, fact rotation silviculture, assisted migration and use of improved forest reproductive materials.

This symposium will discuss how consideration of evolutionary processes can and should be integrated into management and conservation practices. It will also show how evolutionary management can be combined with selection and planting of best-adapted forest reproductive material, suited to the expected future conditions of the planting site. Socio-economic implications of evolutionary management practices will also be discussed. Both empirical and theoretical communications are welcome.

02:00 pm - 02:40 pm - KEYNOTE SPEECH by: Prof. Sally Aitken (University of British Columbia, Canada) / video-recorded talk followed by a live question and answer session

02:40 pm - 03:00 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Genome-wide genetic diversity and differentiation of 12 major European tree species elucidates conservation needs - Anna-Maria Farsakoglou

03:00 pm - 03:20 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Genomic assessment of local adaptation in dwarf birch to inform a climate resilient assisted gene flow strategy - James S. Borrell

03:20 pm - 03:40 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: How much genetic selection for growth can result from silviculture? A new demo-genetic simulation approach. - François Lefèvre

3:40 pm - 4:10 pm : Coffee / Tea break - Poster session

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06 hall and adjoining rooms 126, 128 and 129

4:10 pm - 6:00 pm : Conference session 4: EVOLUTIONARY MANAGEMENT of FORESTS - continued

Location : Bâtiment Sud - Amphi AT06

04:10 pm - 04:30 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Genetic management of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) forests in the face of ash dieback through enrichment plantings - Devrim Semizer-Cuming

04:30 pm - 04:50 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Evaluating the accuracy of genomic prediction for the management and conservation of small secluded natural tree populations - Juan Pablo Jaramillo-Correa

04:50 pm - 05:10 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: Innovative forest genetic resource management and adaptation to climate change – understanding management constraints to inform... - Marcus Lindner

05:10 pm - 05:30 pm - ORAL PRESENTATION: The economical potential of investing in breeding forest material: management effects and financial performance at stand level i... - Hernán Serrano-León

7:30 pm - 11:30 pm : Social Dinner

In the center of Avignon at "Le Cloître Saint Louis".

Thursday 30 January 2020

8:30 am - 9:00 am : Welcome Coffee / Tea - Jointly with Stakeholders' consultation and Genomics training session

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Hall de la Tour Amphi 2E07

9:00 am - 5:00 pm : Stakeholders' consultation to identify research needs in forest genetics in Europe

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Amphi 2E07

Stakeholders' consultation to identify research needs in forest genetics in Europe (organized by Bioversity and EUFORGEN, supported by GenTree)

Session leaders: Dr. Michele Bozzano (European Forest Genetic Resources Programme, EFI, Bonn, Germany) & Dr. Barbara Vinceti (Bioversity International, Rome, Italy).

This  consultation aims at identifying the key research needs in forest genetic resources in Europe. It will bring together scientists and representatives from the member countries of EUFORGEN and beyond to jointly develop a list of the most pressing research priorities for sustainable management.
This is a closed event, by invitation, limited to a capacity of 70 people. Individuals can request to participate. The requests will be reviewed individually. Participants to this event are strongly encouraged to participate to the four conference scientific sessions of Tuesday and Wednesday January 28 and 29, where the most recent advances in forest genetics will be presented.

Session outline: Both plenary work and brainstorming session in small groups will be used during this stakeholders' consultation to help frame key research themes in forest genetics for the sustainable management of forests in the 21st century.

9:00 am - 12:30 pm : Genomics training session

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Amphi 2E05

Genomics training session

Session leaders: Dr. Santiago C. González-Martínez (INRA Bordeaux, France), Dr. Tanja Pyhäjärvi (University of Oulu, Finland), Dr. Leopoldo Sanchez Rodriguez (INRA Orléans, France), Dr. Ivan Scotti (INRA Avignon, France)

Assessing how genetic diversity at potentially adaptive loci is structured in natural forest tree populations, is a complex matter. Demographic processes and natural selection interact to produce genomic signatures that need to be disentangled. The course will show how genomic data sets can be analyzed to yield information on how environmental factors shape local adaptation and how genomic variation affect phenotypic diversity and how this can be used in breeding programs. Evolutionary forces shape genetic variation and leave genomic imprints. The resulting genetic characteristics can be associated with phenotypic traits or even predict them. Plant breeders and conservation biologists often rely on information from such genetic associations.

Understanding the methods (and the statistics behind the methods) used for association studies and phenotypic predictions is crucial for people who work in these fields. Trainees attending the course will be provided with theoretical knowledge and practical examples to improve their skills in population and quantitative genetics as well as in bioinformatics. Organized and taught by four experienced European scientists, the training session has a maximum capacity of 70 people. Masters and PhD students, early stage career researchers as well as senior scientists are welcome.

This training session forms part of the EVOLTREE 2020 training programme. A number of grants will be given to EVOLTREE member participants to reimburse their expenses. More details available soon.

Session outline:

- Ivan Scotti: An overview of concepts needed to analyze genomic data in population and quantitative genetics

- Tanja Pyhäjärvi : Polymorphism data, gene genealogies,mutation and coalescence: the raw material of genomic inferences

- Santiago C. González-Martínez : Genetic diversity surveys to disentangle demographic and natural selection effects in genomic data

- Leopoldo Sanchez Rodriguez: Short training exercise on genomic evaluation for breeding based on real data

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12:30 pm - 2:00 pm : Lunch Break

University restaurant Crous

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2:00 pm - 5:30 pm : Genomics training session - continued

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Amphi 2E05

Genomics training session

Session leaders: Dr. Santiago C. González-Martínez (INRA Bordeaux, France), Dr. Tanja Pyhäjärvi (University of Oulu, Finland), Dr. Leopoldo Sanchez Rodriguez (INRA Orléans, France), Dr. Ivan Scotti (INRA Avignon, France)

Session outline: see morning program

2:00 pm - 5:30 pm : Stakeholders' consultation - continued

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Amphi 2E07

Stakeholders' consultation to identify research needs in forest genetics in Europe (organized with EUFORGEN)

Session leaders: Dr. Michele Bozzano (European Forest Genetic Resources Programme, Bonn, Germany), Dr Bruno Fady (INRA, Avignon, France) and Dr. Barbara Vinceti (Bioversity International, Rome, Italy).

3:30 pm - 4:00 pm : Coffee / Tea break - Jointly with Stakeholders' consultation and Genomics training

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Hall de la Tour Amphi 2E07

Friday 31 January 2020

9:00 am - 12:00 pm : Wikipedia edit-a-thon training session

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Amphi 2E07

leaders: Ewa Hermanowicz (European Forest Genetic Resources Programme, Bonn, Germany) Toni Sant and Enrique Tabone  (WCM, Malta)

Sharing knowledge through Wikipedia is becoming a very effective way to create awareness on less known topics, as many people consult it on a daily basis. This free online encyclopedia is the fifth most popular website in the world with 22 million articles written in 285 languages, available to anyone who has an electronic device connected to internet and created by thousands of volunteers with an open-source software.

As part of the events linked to the conference, in collaboration with Wikimedia Community Malta, we are offering a Wikipedia edit-a-thon session through which you can become a Wikipedia editor and can share your science more widely. It will be a hands-on session: we will edit selected articles together, according to the areas of expertise of the participants.

The participants are kindly asked to bring a laptop and to set up a Wikipedia account prior to the workshop.

The maximum capacity of training session if 25 places. We accept registrations on first come-first served basis. Female Wikipedians are only around 13% of the active community, so we encourage women to participate. Students, early stage career and senior scientists are welcome.

Session outline:

9:00 am - 10:00 am : General introduction and orientation to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects

10:00 am - 10:45 am : Exploring the subject area/s of interest to the participants in the room

10:45 am - 11:00 am : Coffee / Tea break

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Hall de la Tour Amphi 2E07

11:00 am - 12:00 pm : Wikipedia edit-a-thon training session

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Amphi 2E07

11:00 am - noon am : Preparing to contribute to specific Wikipedia pages and/or wikidata.org and/or Wikimedia Commons

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12:00 pm - 1:30 pm : Lunch Break

University restaurant Crous

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1:30 pm - 3:00 pm : Wikipedia edit-a-thon training session

Location : Bâtiment Nord - Amphi 2E07

01:30 pm - 03:00 pm : Editing workshop to apply skills and knowledge acquired during morning sessions