Genetic diversity in key regulator genes and their association with environmental, forest management and biodiversity gradients

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Oliver Gailing
• Subject Area: Forestry
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 433288081

Genetic variation in candidate genes responsible for adaptive traits such as the timing of bud burst and frost/drought tolerance often shows clinal variation in allele frequencies along environmental gradients as result of local adaptation. However, transfer of reproductive material in the past could have resulted in locally maladapted genotypes which are susceptible to abiotic (e.g., late frosts) and biotic stresses (e.g., insect damage). While the genetic structure of foundation tree species was shown to have an effect on the biotic and abiotic environment in a few selected species, the association between adaptive genetic structure and biodiversity has not been studied along environmental gradients in populations with different management histories. The large set of biodiversity indices and environmental variables in the Biodiversity Exploratories enables these kind of association analyses to disentangle the interrelationships between diversity of genes and species, environmental variables and plant fitness.The main objectives of the proposal are to explore how genetic diversity in foundation tree species responds to changes in land use intensity and how it relates to fungal, animal and microbial diversity and to abiotic factors. Genetic variation in key regulator genes responsible for adaptive traits such as flowering time, bud burst or drought stress tolerance will be characterized in trees of Fagus sylvatica L. and Picea abies (L.) H.Karst. at all forest plots. Adaptive genetic diversity will be determined and associated with biotic and abiotic factors. The diversity panel will also be used to investigate the relationship between adaptive genetic diversity and survival/fitness in the beech translocation experiments. Below and above ground genetic diversity will further be determined in the multi-forest-split-plot-experiment and related to mycorrhizal diversity, jointly with the working group of Andrea Polle (project: ECTOMYC, University of Göttingen). Finally, we will analyze associations of fungal diversity with tree species diversity, environmental data and root nutrients to uncover the impact of tree species, management, root nutrients and environmental factors on fungal temporal and spatial turn-over in cooperation with ECTOMYC.

• DFG Programme: Infrastructure Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1374: Biodiversity Exploratories