Speaker
Description
Semi-natural grasslands are one of the most species-rich ecosystems of Europe but have undergone particularly strong habitat changes due to land use intensification and abandonment. Over the past decades, the area of semi-natural grasslands in Europe has been drastically reduced. With declining area, the remaining populations in these habitats became smaller, more isolated, and increasingly disconnected, resulting in strongly reduced or even inhibited gene flow. The consequence is genetic impoverishment leading to reduced resistance to environmental changes and diseases.
Our study species, Primula veris L. (cowslip), is a herbaceous plant that typically grows in nutrient-poor semi-natural grasslands. Our study regions span five European countries (Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Estonia) covering a broad part of the species’ distribution range. We performed next-generation sequencing on 150 populations and analyzed the relationship between genetic diversity and landscape configuration at three points in time over the past 80 years.
Although contemporary landscape composition affects genetic diversity of the study populations, historical landscape characteristics continue to shape present-day population genetics. This time lag in genetic response provides an opportunity to implement conservation measures preserving former genetic diversity, even in landscapes that have already undergone fragmentation and other habitat changes.
| Status Group | Postdoctoral Researcher |
|---|---|
| FOR TALKS: Poster Presentation Option | No, I prefer to present only as a talk. |