Identifying proxy measurements for drought tolerance in Sitka spruce
Project leads Dr Rubén Manso, Dr Richard Whittet | Forest Research
Lead organisation Forest Research
Project status Complete (April 2022 to March 2025)
Project funding £357.000
Research outcomes Adaptation | Resistance
Context
Drought occurrence and severity are expected to increase in large parts of Britain as a consequence of climate change. Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), which accounts for 60% of UK timber production, originates from the oceanic north west of America and is not adapted to drought conditions. Evidence from central Europe shows that drought is a major driver of pest outbreaks that have devastated large areas of native Norway spruce (Picea abies).
Additionally, drought is suspected to be a factor in internal wood failure, which greatly reduces the value of the timber produced. Given this context, the resilience of spruce forests needs to be enhanced in Britain in order to secure the provision of high-quality timber to industry. This is a major objective of the Forestry Commission and one of the key elements of the UK Net Zero Strategy.
Research aims and objectives
Aim
To identify a series of heritable traits for drought tolerance in the Sitka spruce breeding population, which can be used to select for more resilient trees.
Objectives:
- Study the genetic control of relevant resilience traits – different traits known to be associated with resilience to drought will be extracted from wood samples from a number of different cloned genetic families from Forest Research’s clone banks to assess their heritability. These traits will also be calculated in the original clones to determine evaluation of the full breeding population from clone banks is possible.
- Test proxies such as wood density and drought cracks, that can be used as markers of the existence of the above traits. These proxies will also be tested in clone banks.
- Economically quantify the benefits of including drought tolerance in the breeding criteria against the current system.
Expected outcomes
- A trade article on heritability estimates for resilience traits.
- Report on resilience proxies.
- New criteria in index selection (if applicable).
- Submission of manuscript aimed at a scientific publication on the economic quantification of considering drought tolerance as a breeding criterium.
Further resources linked to this project
Research Talk: Using available genetic resources to build economic resilience: the case of Sitka spruce (Broadcast: 27 March 2025)
In this talk, Dr Rubén Manso & Thomas Baer (Forest Research) present research on using available genetic resources to build economic resilience: the case of Sitka spruce.
This talk was part of the ‘Genetic Research for Economically Resilient Forestry’ webinar originally broadcast by the Centre for Forest Protection on 27 March 2025.
Research Talk: Using available genetic resources to build economic resilience: the case of Sitka spruce (Delivered: 18 November 2025)
This presentation was delivered by Dr Rubén Manso, one of the project leads on CFP Phase 1 project ‘Identifying proxy measurements for drought tolerance in Sitka spruce’, as part of the ‘Genetic approaches to delivering more resilient trees, woods and forests’ session at Britain’s Forest Future: Research-Practice Exchange in Durham, UK on 18 November 2025. The key messages from Rubén’s presentation were:
- Although it is possible to breed for drought tolerance, and this may be the most profitable option, we recommend a precautionary approach and keeping the existing genetic variability as an adaptive measure until more evidence is gathered.
- Given our knowledge on Sitka spruce genetics, we suggest the species is used as a model to develop methods to study resilience, which can then be transferred to other species.
Britain’s Forest Future: Research-Practice Exchange was a forest and woodland research, policy and practice knowledge-exchange event organised by Defra, the Future of UK Treescapes, and the Centre for Forest Protection. It was held on the 17 & 18 November 2025 in Durham, UK.
Glossary & Key Terms
Genetic control
Heritability
A measure of how much of the differences in a trait between individuals in a population are due to genetic differences.
Heritable traits
Characteristics of the tree that can be passed to their offspring.
Internal wood failure
Stem cracking.
Norway spruce (Picea abies)
Tall evergreen conifers of the genus Picea, native to northern and central Europe and widely planted in Britain for forestry, where they are valued for fast growth, straight stems, and their timber used in construction, paper, and other wood products. For more information, see Norway spruce (NS) - Forest Research.
Pest
Any organism including insects, fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, or other pathogens that can cause harm to trees or tree products (in the context of forest protection).
Proxies
Variables that provide an indirect measure of a target trait, but which are much easier to measure.
Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis)
Fast‑growing evergreen conifer trees of the species Picea sitchensis, native to the west coast of North America and widely planted in Britain, recognised for their ability to grow productively in cool, wet conditions, their importance as a major commercial timber species, and their dominance in UK forestry plantations. For more information, see Sitka spruce (SS) - Forest Research.
Share this project on social media
Related Projects
Our partners
Social media
Explore
Newsletter
Contact us
© 2026 Centre for Forest Protection. All rights reserved.