I/UCRC Phase II: University of Idaho Membership in Center for Advanced Forestry Systems

森林树木提供了广泛的传统和先进的可再生材料，包括木材、纸张、电力、复合材料、聚合物和液体燃料。由于人口的增长，生活水平的提高，以及人们越来越认识到，如果管理者保持树木生长的土壤质量，森林将无限期地生产这些产品，对这些产品的需求正在增加。然而，随着对可再生木材产品需求的增加，商业林地基础正在萎缩。为了满足日益萎缩的土地对原木产品日益增长的需求，需要通过先进的林业实践提高生产能力。在内陆西北地区（INW）有一个重要的机会，在那里，过去的投资水平和环境限制限制了造林系统的收益。爱达荷大学与其他九所大学一起建立了先进林业系统中心（CAFS），其目标是教育各种各样的学生，以提高我们森林的生产能力，满足社会对未来绿色可再生产品日益增长的需求。合作研究将森林管理者与大学联系起来，以解决广泛的遗传和文化问题。在密集管理制度下，森林土地管理人员面临着许多关于森林生产力和我们森林生产能力受到限制的问题。爱达荷大学在该地区具有独特的地位，能够以严格而有效的方式解决这些问题。这样的合作研究项目解决了与当地土地管理者最相关的问题。持续的进步需要从分子尺度到生态系统尺度的工作，并考虑到林分发展的寿命，在同样广泛的时间尺度上进行工作。CAFS允许区域合作研究项目利用国家取得的进展，共同推动全国林业系统的发展。研究将侧重于通过研究高密度生长的制约因素和开发用于商业再造林的改良品种来提高INW森林的承载能力。基因组学的最新进展可能会大大缩短树木育种周期，使森林管理者能够比以前更快地将遗传改良应用于商业森林。工业管理人员接触到更广泛的思想，可以更快地采用先进技术，从而提高我国林产品工业的竞争力。

Forest trees provide a wide range of traditional and advanced renewable materials including wood, paper, power, composites, polymers, and liquid fuels. Demand for these products is increasing due to population growth, increasing standards of living, and an increased recognition that forests will produce these products indefinitely if managers maintain the quality of soil in which trees are grown. Yet at as demand for renewable wood-based products increases, the commercial forest land base is shrinking. Meeting increased demands for raw wood products from a shrinking land base requires increased production capacity through advanced forestry practices. There is an important opportunity in the Inland Northwest (INW) where both the level of past investments and environmental constraints have limited gains in silvicultural systems. University of Idaho has joined nine other universities in the Center for Advanced Forestry Systems (CAFS) with the objective of educating a diversity of students to improve the productive capacity of our forests and meet societies increasing demand for future green, renewable products.Cooperative research links forest managers with universities to address a wide range of genetic and cultural problems. INW forest land managers are faced with numerous questions about constrains on forest productivity and the productive capacity of our forests under intense management regimes. The University of Idaho is uniquely situated in the region to address those questions in a rigorous and efficient manner. Such collaborative research programs solve problems that are most relevant to local land managers. Continued advancement requires work at the molecular to the ecosystems scales, and over an equally broad range of time scales considering the longevity of forest stand development. CAFS allows regional cooperative research programs to take advantage of progress made nationally to collectively advance forestry systems nationwide. Research will focus on increasing the carrying capacity of INW forests by studying the constraints to growth at high density and developing improved varieties for commercial reforestation. Recent advances in genomics may significantly shorten the tree breeding cycle allowing forest managers to apply genetic improvements to commercial forests much more quickly than previously possible. The exposure of industrial managers to a wider set of ideas leads to more rapid adoption of advanced technologies, which increases competitiveness of our forest products industries.