Genetic diversity in commercial forest tree plantations: introductory comments to the 1994 SRIEG meeting papers

The SRIEG (Southern Regional Information Exchange Group) 1994 program organizers (George Askew, Tom Blush, and Barbara McCutchan) invited 18 authors to survey attitudes, data, methodology, plans, regulations, and strategies with respect to genetic diversity in forest stands. These presentations, made during a 2-day meeting on 19-20 July at Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, focused particularly on commercial plantations, where a single planted species may serve as the primary keystone species in the ecosystem that develops. We present here (1) a brief guide to these 10 presentations, 6 of which are printed in this issue, plus brief descriptions of two companion meetings, one of which is printed in this issue (H.E. Stelzer and B. Goldfarb. 1997. Implementing clonal forestry in the southeastern United States: SRIEG satellite workshop summary remarks. Can. J. For. Res. 27:442-446); (2) some topics developed during formal panel and audience discussions, and during informal discussions during breaks, that are not fully addressed in the following papers; and (3) some genetic conservation--diversity issues that seem to need continued or additional attention. (With respect to items 2 and 3 above, while these were part of our charge, we could not participate in all conversations and discussions that occurred informally, nor do we claim to have fully comprehended those we do report. We did present these at the final session of the meeting, thus giving other participants the opportunity to disagree and add things we missed, and some revisions and additions thus occurred. It was many of these informal conversations and discussions that developed additional insights and made the meeting a more effective format for this topic than just publishing independently submitted papers. In spite of our admittedly imperfect reporting, we are pleased to include them, and suggest that some will prove to be valuable.)