%0 Research article
%T From the Arctic Circle to the Canadian prairies – a case study of silver birch acclimation capacity
%A Rousi, Matti
%A Possen, Boy J.H.M.
%A Hagqvist, Risto
%A Thomas, Barb R.
%D 2012
%J Silva Fennica
%V 46
%N 3
%R doi:10.14214/sf.46
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/46
%X Earlier provenance research has indicated poor success even in short  distance transfers (> 2–3° latitude) of silver birch (Betula pendula  Roth) southward from their origin. These results may indicate poor  adaptability of silver birch to a warming climate. Some of the scenarios  for a warming climate in Finland suggest effective heat sums are likely  to double in the north and increase 1.5 fold in the south for the  period of 2070–2099. Consequently, the outlook for silver birch appears  bleak. To study the acclimation of birch to this projected change we  established a provenance trial in northeastern Alberta, Canada, at the  temperature area currently predicted for Central Finland (lat. 64–66°N)  at the turn of this century (1400 dd). Our 10-year experiment showed  that all the Finnish provenances (origins 61–67°N) have acclimated well  to the warmer growth conditions experienced in Alberta at 54°N. These  results suggest that silver birch has the potential to acclimate to  thermal conditions predicted for Finland at the end of the 21st century.  Our results also indicate that silver birch has the potential as a  plantation species in Canada, where the Finnish birch grew faster in the  boreal forest region of Canada than local paper birch (Betula  papyrifera Marsh.) provenances.