Forest Reproductive Material (FRM) is the generic name for the seeds, cones, cuttings and planting stock used in forest establishment. The 46 tree species and the genus Populus (including aspen, black poplar and grey poplar) covered by the Regulations are known as the “controlled species”. The Forest Reproductive Material (Great Britain) Regulations 2002 regulate the marketing of FRM. These Regulations came into force on 1st January 2003 and implement EC Directive 1999/105. The Forestry Commission is the Official Body that is
responsible for the FRM Regulations in England, Scotland and Wales.
The Forestry Commission maintains the National Register of Approved Basic Material for Great Britain (The National Register). Each entry of basic material (or unit of approval) in the National Register is given a unique register reference that encodes:
Species name
Type of basic material
Category of reproductive material to be produced
Region of provenance
Native seed zone (where appropriate)
Altitude zone (if the species is native to GB)
Origin (that part of the species’ natural range from which the material
derives).
The attributes of each polygon in this dataset are restricted to the National Register Identification Number (NRID), a national grid reference (NGR), a Basic Material 'category' symbol and the land area, in hectares. All other details mentioned above are available in the National Register.
Basic Material is the plant material from which the Forest Reproductive Material (FRM) is derived and includes seed stands, seed orchards, parent material held by tree breeders in archives, individual clones and mixtures of clones. There are six types of basic material:
Seed sources:
This covers all material from a single tree to any collection of trees within a region of provenance or seed zone.
Stands:
Specifically identified areas or groups of trees with identified boundaries .
Seed orchards:
Sources based upon known individuals derived from tree breeding.
Parents of families:
Sources based upon known individuals derived from tree breeding.
Clones:
Individually identified trees from which the FRM will be produced through vegetative propagation .
Clonal mixtures:
Individually identified trees from which the FRM will be produced through vegetative propagation.
Forest Reproductive Material (FRM) is cones, fruits and seeds, all parts of plants obtained by vegetative propagation, including embryos and plants produced from any of these. Normally, only FRM that comes from registered basic material can be marketed. There are four categories of reproductive material according to the basic material from which it is collected and these are recorded in this dataset:
Source identified FRM (symbol SI):
Comes from general or specific locations within a single region of provenance or seed zone altitude band in which no specific superior qualities are recognised.
Selected FRM (symbol SE):
Collected from stands showing superior characteristics, e.g. better form, growth rate and health.
Qualified FRM (symbol QU):
Derived from the selection of superior individual trees which have not undergone any form of testing.
Tested FRM (symbol TE):
Derived from the selection of individual trees or stands that have undergone evaluation for genetic quality or have been shown to be superior, in comparison to accepted standards.
