How much of genetic diversity is desirable in mass production of forest reproductive material? How mass production of forest reproductive material reduces genetic diversity? Relation between genetic diversity and mass production of forest reproductive material is discussed in a holistic manner. In industrial forest plantations, narrow genetic diversity is desirable and reproductive material is produced at clone level. On the other hand, in conservation forestry a wide genetic diversity is imperative. Beside management goals, a desirable level of genetic diversity is related to rotation cycle and ontogeny of tree species. Risks of failure are lower in short rotations of fast growing species. In production of slow growing species, managed in long rotations, the reduction of genetic diversity increases the risk of failure due to causes unknown or unexpected at the time of planting. This risk is additionally increased in cases of seed transfer and in conditions of climate change. Every step in production of forest reproductive material, from collection to nursery production, has an effect on genetic diversity mainly by directional selection and should be considered. This review revealed no consistent decrease of genetic diversity during forest reproductive material production and planting.

Recent technological advances in the field of genomics offer conservation managers and practitioners new tools to explore for conservation applications. Many of these tools are well developed and used by other life science fields, while others are still in development. Considering these technological possibilities, choosing the right tool(s) from the toolbox is crucial and can pose a challenging task. With this in mind, we strive to inspire, inform and illuminate managers and practitioners on how conservation efforts can benefit from the current genomic and biotechnological revolution. With inspirational case studies we show how new technologies can help resolve some of the main conservation challenges, while also informing how implementable the different technologies are. We here focus specifically on small population management, highlight the potential for genetic rescue, and discuss the opportunities in the field of gene editing to help with adaptation to changing environments. In addition, we delineate potential applications of gene drives for controlling invasive species. We illuminate that the genomic toolbox offers added benefit to conservation efforts, but also comes with limitations for the use of these novel emerging techniques.

The taxonomic status of beech from the Balkan Peninsula is not yet clearly defined. There is no agreement among different authors about the morphological characteristics discriminating between the Balkan and European and/or Eastern beech. For most characteristics, the mean values are different but the ranges of variation overlap considerably. Provenance trial of beech established in Serbia, at the locality Debeli Lug, has provided an opportunity for research of interprovenance variability at the level of leaf morphometric characteristics in juvenile development stage. Research included 10 provenances originating from the Western Balkans (Serbian provenance 36 and 38; Croatian provenance 24 and 25; Bosnian provenance 30 and 32) and from Central Europe (German provenance 47 and 49; Austrian provenance 56 and Hungarian provenance 42), where following morphometric characteristics were analyzed: leaf length (Ll), leaf width (Lw), petiole lenght (Pl), leaf base width on 1 cm (Blw), number of veins - left (Vl), number of veins - right (Vr), distance between 3rd and 4th vein - left (Dv 3-4). The results of this research show existence of clear differentiation among provenances from the Western Balkan and from Central Europe, from the point of leaf dimensions, number of veins and leaf base width.