Project in the picture
Temperate forests in Europe occur mostly as fragments within a matrix of agricultural land. Surviving in habitat fragments challenges those species poorly equipped to establish regional population dynamics, such as many forest herbs. Nevertheless, spatially isolated forest herb populations are rarely genetically isolated, but connected to some degree by gene flow. In plants, this gene flow can occur via seed or pollen dispersal. In this project, we want to determine the prevalent mechanism of gene flow, i.e. the relative importance of seed and pollen dispersal for gene flow, depending on the landscape composition.
Why?
If we want to predict or control the fate of forest herbs in changing agricultural landscapes, we need to understand the mechanisms of gene flow. In most forest herbs, gene flow is accomplished by animals that disperse seeds or pollen. However, the relative importance of gene flow mediated through pollen- and seed-dispersing animals is unknown. Given that different dispersal vectors interact differently with the landscape, we expect the gene flow mechanism to depend on the landscape structure.
How?
We use genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to study the gene flow among spatially isolated populations of the common forest specialist herb Polygonatum multiflorum (L.) All. The study comprises 28 landscapes across seven regions in temperate Europe and covers several gradients in landscape composition. The simultaneous application of SNPs from the nuclear and the chloroplast genome allows us to quantify a pollen-to-seed migration ratio for each landscape.
Who?
The project is implemented by the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) in Muencheberg, Germany, in collaboration with the FLEUR network. Principal investigator is Dr. Tobias Naaf (naaf[AT]zalf.de). The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).