News

“SIBLARCH” Project

07.08.2017

SIBLARCH was a Northern Periphery project 2004-2007. The main objective was to compare Siberian larch to Scots pine in forestry and wood products.

The Russian-Scandinavian Larch Project was prepared in 1992 and started 1996. Four research organisations in Russia organised the seed collection of larch from more than 1000 individual trees and 46 different forest stands between Kamchatka in the east and Onega in the west. This great work took five years 1995-2001 and was financed by Norwegian and Swedish research foundations. Experimental plantations were established in Norway and Sweden in 2003 and later also in Finland, Russia, Iceland, China, Japan, Canada and USA. The tree breeding part of the project ended up in a big international experimental series of field trials in 10 counties. One or several research plots of the same genetic material of Siberian larch (open pollinated families) are now established in Alaska, British Columbia, Saskachewan, Quebec, Minnesota, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, France, Archangelsk, Komi, Japan, and China.

SIBLARCH has given many results of which some are clearly visible at present and others will generate results in the future. The network of people, institutions and enterprises supporting larch in forestry and products has grown.

During a “phase 2” of the Russian-Scandinavian project "Larch” geographic cultures were created in the Arkhangelsk Region from seeds of the basic collection (different geographic provenances) and seeds, collected in Pinega leshoz.

The aim of the “phase 2” of the project was to grow two-years larch seedlings with the open root systems and to plant geographic larch cultures in Pinega leshoz of the Arkhangelsk Region. The project leaders were Jaap Buitink, Owe Martinsson, Vladimir Barzut and Boris Mochalov.

Within the framework of the Russian-Scandinavian project "Larch" an experimental plot to promote the natural regeneration of larch in the Pinega lesnichestvo was established in 2003. Studies have shown successful natural larch regeneration at the presence of larch seed trees on the site and soil preparation before the seed year. The amount of larch undergrowth was 22.6 thousand per ha which was observed in 9 years after site preparation. At the same time, it should be noted that the most successful larch regeneration appears on layers due to more rational use of natural soil fertility.

In early August 2017, a group of Swedish foresters led by Owe Martinsson visited an experimental larch plot created in the Pinega lesnichestvo within the framework of the project "Larch" and the site for the promotion of natural larch regeneration in the Pinega.

Experts noted that there is a great differentiation of both the average height of cultures between provenances and the height of plants in the provenances and in families. Obviously, the seeds origin play a big role in the growth and survival of larch, its resistance to late-spring and early-autumn frosts, genetic features of the parent trees. Swedish experts also noted that creation of the experimental plot for natural larch regeneration under the "Larch" project gave positive results and completely justified itself.

In addition to the larch experimental plots in the Pinega lesnichestvo, the Swedish colleagues visited the Dendrological garden of the Northern Research Institute of Forestry which is situated in Arkhangelsk City.



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