COST Action E 52 - vTI - Bund.de

Conservation of oriental beech genetic resources is done mainly by setting up seed stands and
gene conservation forests through in situ programs. Seeds collected from these areas can be used
for reforestation according to the seed transfer zones. In reforestation programs, although oriental
beech is used, the minimum requirement is that the origin of the reproductive material is known
and its adaptive characters appropriate for the ecological conditions at the regeneration site. For this
purpose, the guidelines for oriental beech seed transfer zones (Atalay 1992) based on climate, soil
and bedrock characteristics have been used until a more ecologically and genetically sound seed
transfer set of guidelines is prepared.
The establishment of ex situ conservation plantations of oriental beech may be necessary in order to
conserve the genetic variation of threatened populations that cannot be maintained at the original
site such as relic populations. The objective will be to establish a new population that maintains as
much as possible of the original genetic variability and allows for long-term adaptation to the local
conditions at the new planting site.
ForesT research
Research on oriental beech in Turkey is generally concentrated on regeneration and afforestation
studies. There is only limited research on the genetics of oriental beech. Because of the requirement
of genetic diversity of oriental beech forests a couple of projects has started, supported by the Turkish
Ministry of Environment and Forestry and The Scientific and Technological Research Council of
Turkey. One of these projects contains 33 populations with representatives from all seed transfer
Fig. 2: Breeding zones of oriental beech in Turkey
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