Principles of variation and inheritance in forest trees will be introduced. Then, various genetics, genomics, biotechnology and breeding concepts and principles and their applications in tree biology, tree improvement, silviculture, conservation of genetic resources and sustainable forest management, will be discussed. The topics will include: basic principles of quantitative, molecular, population and conservation genetics; genetic variation, differentiation and evolution of populations; reproductive biology; ecophysiological genetics of adaptation; tree improvement concepts, methods and programs; silvicultural practices and genetic resource conservation; discovery and functional analysis of genes; organization and mapping of genomes; marker-assisted selection and molecular breeding; and genetic engineering of forest trees. This course is cross-listed as FOR 3425 ; students cannot receive credit for both BIOL 3423 and FOR 3425 .