Local adaptation of Nothofagus pumilio along the latitudinal gradient of the Andes

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Lars Opgenoorth, since 10/2021
• Subject Area: Forestry
• Term: from 2018 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 410759149

In the light of increasing stress events and stress episodes due to anthropogenic climate change the investigation of the extent of adaptive potential is a crucial and vibrant research field in evolutionary forest ecology. However, the success of this research field in general is still hampered by rather limited genomic resources, by the lack of small-scale environmental information, and by the huge challenge to phenotype trees in their natural populations.In this project, we take advantage of i) the unique opportunity that the Andean latitudinal and orographic gradients offer to study local adaptation in pathways related to light and climate, and ii) the genomic and phenotypic resources created for seven European tree species in the framework of the H2020 GenTree project.The goals of this study are i) to identify the genetic and phenotypic basis of local adaptation in the ecologically and economically important Patagonian tree species Nothofagus pumilio, ii) to determine the spatial scale at which demographic history, natural selection, gene flow, and major environmental drivers shape genetic diversity and local adaptation, and iii) to test whether local adaptation evolved convergently among Southern beech and European tree species.For these purposes, we will link genetic variation in a set of ~1,000 candidate genes from relevant pathways with phenotypes derived from tree ring data (dendrophenotypes) to quantify the genomic response of individuals and populations to environmental differences along the latitudinal and the climatic east-west gradient of the Andes. In addition, using dendrophenotypes, we will investigate the response of trees to stress events unlinked to these gradients, namely ENSO related climatic variability and pest outbreaks. In parallel, we will use neutral genetic markers to take the demographic history of populations into account in association studies, and to determine gene flow distances. Finally, we seek to investigate whether tree species from Patagonia and Europe adapted convergently to the investigated selective pressures. For this, we will compare our results with currently ongoing studies of identical experimental design conducted in seven European tree species. These include the relatively closely related Fagus sylvatica and Quercus robur as well as the very distantly related conifer Picea abies. Aside from a better understanding of the genetic foundation of local adaptation in essential pathways, identifying the scale of genetic diversity, gene flow and local adaptation will help inform foresters to implement more targeted management strategies of forest genetic resources. For example, our results can be translated into the identification of provenance zones for N. pumilio.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemalige Antragstellerin: Professorin Dr. Katrin Heer, until 9/2021