IntraBioDiv 2006 Biodiversity Conservation - From Genes to ... · Gheorghe Coldea 1 and Mihai...

Biodiversity Conservation � From Genes to Habitats

Conference 23�24 November 2006 in Davos

Abstracts

Editor:

Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland, 2006

Conference organizer: Dr. Felix Gugerli, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL Zürcherstrasse 111 CH-8903 Birmensdorf Switzerland Recommended form of citation: Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL (eds) 2006: Biodiversity Conservation – From Genes to Habitats. Conference 23–24 November 2006 in Davos, Switzerland. Abstracts. 44 pp. Authors, 2006: Title. In: Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL (eds) Biodiversity Conservation – From Genes to Habitats. Conference 23–24 November 2006 in Davos, Switzerland. Abstracts. page number. Available from http://www.wsl.ch/publikationen/books/pdf/7699_WSL.pdf

Biodiversity Conservation – From Genes to Habitats Abstracts Keynote speakers 1

Connectivity in systematic conservation planning Mar Cabeza University of Helsinki, Dpt. of Biological and Environmental Sciences, PO Box 65 (Viikinkaari 1), FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland Habitat loss is the greatest current threat to biodiversity. In many cases, the establishment of protected areas is the only solution to stop such loss. Historically, most protected areas, implicitly thought to protect biodiversity, are selected for reasons other than biological. The past two decades, though, have seen a major development of systematic conservation planning tools. These tools were motivated by the need to identify networks of sites that maximize biodiversity given some constraints (e.g. cost, total area, etc.). Nonetheless, the inclusion of biodiversity in small and scattered reserves does not guarantee its persistence, as landscape structure influences species distribution patterns and dynamics. Conservation planning has recently adopted concepts from disciplines such as metapopulation biology, developing methods that aim at designing cost-efficient as well as representative and 'well connected' reserve networks. In principle, by integrating metapopulation-type models in reserve selection procedures, one can select sets of sites of an optimal spatial configuration, such that persistence of the species is guaranteed. However, in practice, modelling the spatial effects for many species is not trivial. This is because of high data demands and high computational complexity. But, there are several ways to approach these problems. In summary, I will be addressing the following key questions: Do we understand the spatial processes and how they may affect biodiversity? Do we have the information and tools to do sound decision making for conservation planning?

2 Abstracts Keynote speakers Biodiversity Conservation – From Genes to Habitats

The diversity of the alpine-subalpine flora of the Southeastern Carpathians and the conservation action for the vulnerable and endangered floristic gene pool Gheorghe Coldea1 and Mihai Pu!ca!2

1Institut of Biological Research, 48 Republicii St., 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania 2Babe!-Bolyai University, A. Borza Botanical Garden, 42 Republicii St., 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania 2Université Joseph Fourier, Laboratoire d’Ecologie Alpine, BP 53-38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France

The alpine-subalpine belts of the Southeastern Carpathians (1000-2550 m.s.m.), with a total area of 67,800 km², are spread on 118 cells of 25/23 km (IntraBioDiv grid). In this area, there have been identified 565 cormophyte taxa specific to the high mountains (HMT). The local diversity of HMT is positively correlated with the altitude and the presence of basic bedrock. The highest floristic richness is found in the cells from Bucegi Mountains (P64, 378 HMT) and F"g"ra! Mountains (O61, 360 taxa), with altitudes greater than 2500 m.s.m and frequent calcareous bedrock; the lowest diversity of the alpine-subalpine flora is in the grid cells of Gutâi (D58, 7 HMT) and Poiana Rusc" (O57, 7 HMT) with altitudes below 1300 m.s.m. and the geological substrate composed exclusively of siliceous rocks. To evaluate the efficiency of the Carpathian network of protected areas in the preservation of subalpine-alpine flora, the distribution of vulnerable species within these areas was estimated. The vulnerability for each HMT taxa was established following their geographical distribution, separately for the three natural parts of the Southeastern Carpathians (Apuseni, Meridionals and Orientals). Vulnerable for a mountain system was considered a taxa which respect two criteria: it is present in less then 10% of its total IntraBioDiv grid-cells and less then 3% of total subgrid-cells (one cell being divided in 4 subunits of 12,5/11,5 km). Out of the 565 identified cormophyte taxa, 146 (26%) are considered vulnerable, 36 of them being local or regional endemic taxa – which represents 45% of all Romanian endemic species (Dihoru, Parvu, 1987). From a phytogeographycal point of view, the most important vulnerable taxa for the Southeastern Carpathians are Alopecurus laguriformis, Aquilegia nigricans ssp. subscaposa, Carex bicolor, Carex lachenalii, Draba dornerii, Draba simonkaiana, Hesperis oblongifolia, Primula baumgarteniana, Nigritella carpatica, Silene dinarica, Saxifraga mutata ssp. demisa, Soldanella rugosa, Primula baumgarteniana, Ranunculus glacialis etc. It is important to emphasize that 95% of the vulnerable taxa are already included into the national network of protected areas, consisting of 10 national parks and 80 natural reserves (3550 km², 5% of the total area). The remaining 5% of these taxa, such as Atocion rupestris, Cardamine glauca, Draba simonkaiana, Nigritella carpatica, Pyrola carpatica, Potentilla haynaldiana, Woodsia glabella are outside of these protected areas and therefore new natural reserves must be constituted.


Biodiversity at the Habitat Level – Results and Prospects of the INTERREG IIIB-project HABITALP

Jochen Grab

Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Forstwirtschaft, Lindenstrasse 61, D-83451 Piding

On account of its physiographic and climatic characteristics, its cultural differences and its geographical position the Alpine Space shows a particularly high number of – partly endemic – species and unique ecosystems. That is why this high mountain region plays such an important role regarding the conservation of biological diversity in Europe. The Alpine Conven- tion integrates these circumstances and forms the basis for the member states to accomplish the protection and the sustainable development of the Alpine Space. In order to fulfill these aims, a cross-border database together with a standardized and accepted methodology is needed to enable a successful transnational cooperation. Aware of this fact, eleven alpine protected areas participated in the INTERREG IIIB-project “HABITALP” to develop strategies for the management of the alpine landscape on the basis of Colour-Infrared aerial photo- graphs and a common interpretation key. One part of this project was dedicated to the assessment of landscape diversity. Founded on digital interpretation datasets of each partner area, parameters have been gathered to model e.g. habitat diversity using a Geographical Information System (GIS). Comparative studies can serve to detect unique structures and combination of habitats. Thus, the analysis of landscape diversity – as one component of biological diversity – contributes in an important way to the coordination of a transnational and interdisciplinary landscape management throughout the Alpine Space as well as to the realization of international agreements. Furthermore, especially the evaluation of the parameter “habitat diversity” questions the “traditional” meaning of protected areas concerning the conservation of biological diversity and stimulates and interesting reflection.


The lack of biodiversity data and the value of surrogates Joaquín1Hortal,2,3 and Miguel B. Araújo1,2

1Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC). C/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain 2Center for Macroecology, Institute of Biology, University of Copenhagen. Universitetsparken, 15 - DK-2100 Copenhagen O, Denmark 3 Departamento de Ciências Agrárias – CITA A, Universidade dos Açores. Campus de Angra, Terra-Chã, 9701-851 - Angra do Heroísmo, Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal Systematic conservation planning requires good-quality data on the distribution of species and other valued biodiversity attributes. However, available data are scarce and usually spatially or taxonomically biased. An alternative to using poor quality data is to use surrogates. We discuss three surrogacy strategies: (1) use of sets of species as surrogates for wholesale biodiversity; and use of (2) environmental; or (3) assemblage descriptors (such as species richness, rarity, endemism, community composition, community structure) to describe biodiversity. Here, we review the three approaches and discuss some of their advantages and limitations. We conclude that no single surrogate strategy can outperform the others in every circumstance and that ultimately all of them are sensitive to existing data and knowledge. We propose that the use of surrogates does not preclude the need to make additional efforts to improve data quality and that a greater level of investment should be given to basic survey and systematic research.


Integration of biodiversity levels: synthesis of IntraBioDiv Pierre Taberlet and IntraBioDiv Consortium

Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France After the presentation of the three levels of biodiversity (ecosystems, species, genes), recent papers on the importance of intraspecific biodiversity will be presented. It appears that genetic diversity has a high conservation value and might co-vary with species diversity. Despite its importance, intraspecific biodiversity is never taken into account when designing networks of nature reserves. The main IntraBioDiv results concern the comparison of species biodiversity with genetic diversity over the Alps and the Carpathians. Species richness is not correlated with genetic diversity. Species richness is correlated with habitat heterogeneity. Genetic diversity is linked to recent refugia. Such results have strong consequences for establishing networks of reserves: not only the species diversity, but also the genetic diversity must be taken into account.


The relationship between species diversity and genetic diversity Mark Vellend Dept. of Botany and Zoology and Biodiversity Research Center, University of British Columbia, BC, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, Canada Species diversity and genetic diversity have been studied almost independently by community ecologists and population geneticists, respectively, for decades. However, recent research has aimed to integrate concepts and theories of diversity across these disciplines, and has revealed a variety of mechanisms that may create relationships between species and genetic diversity. Within single trophic levels there are three possibilities: (i) a common set of processes may influence the two levels of diversity in parallel, thereby creating positive correlations between the two; (ii) genetic diversity within species may influence competitive interactions and therefore coexistence and diversity; and (iii) species diversity may act as an important aspect of the selection regime experienced by individual species and therefore genetic diversity. It is also possible for diversity within one trophic level to influence diversity (either species or genetic) on higher trophic levels if there is some degree of consumer specialization. I will present both empirical and theoretical evidence that supports each of these possibilities. The results point to the importance of considering both ecological and evolutionary processes in predicting community dynamics, to the great potential for theoretical synthesis across disciplines in biodiversity research, and to the potential in some circumstances of using one level of diversity as a surrogate for the other.


The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™- Critical Knowledge for targeted Conservation Jean-Christophe Vié Deputy Head, Species Programme, IUCN – The World Conservation Union, 28 rue Mauverney, 1196 Gland, Switzerland The 2006 IUCN Red List classified 16,118 species as threatened with extinction, based on assessment of 40,176 species including all mammals, birds, amphibians, conifers, and cycads. The Red List documents 784 extinctions and 65 species that have become extinct in the wild since 1500 AD, as well as 248 species considered Possibly Extinct, suggesting that current known extinction rates approach 1,000 times natural background rates. Threat is taxonomically selective, with proportions of threatened species varying from 12% for birds to 52% for cycads, and considerable variation also apparent at the level of orders and families. Red List Indices derived from repeat assessments of birds and amphibians show that extinction risk has increased over the last two decades. Spatial analyses show a highly uneven geography of extinction, with most threatened species concentrated on tropical mountains and islands, often in countries also holding high human populations and with low Gross National Incomes. Habitat destruction is the dominant cause of threat, although exploitation, invasive species, pollution, and disease are also significant threats to some taxa, and it often these latter factors that are most implicated in extinctions. Responses necessary to conserve threatened species include species-specific actions, site and habitat conservation, and policy level responses; some such measures are already in place, although for many species more are needed (for example, at least 846 threatened vertebrate species are thought not to occur in any protected areas). Data limitations faced by the IUCN Red List are serious, with less than 3% of known species assessed, and coverage of freshwater, marine and arid-land species particularly poor, although new initiatives will reduce this constraint. In addition, plant species in particular are poorly documented on the IUCN Red List. Nevertheless, the IUCN Red List provides us with the most comprehensive insight into the scope of extinction worldwide, which is set to increase very significantly in the next five to ten years.


The Alpine Network of Protected Areas Michael Vogel ALPARC – Réseau Alpin des Espaces Protégés, Secrétariat permanent des la Conventione alpine Maison des parcs et de la montagne, 256, Rue de la République, F – 73000 Chambéry Already in 1994, France proposed the establishment of an Alpine Network of Protected Ar-eas to foster international collaboration on nature protection in the Alpine area. During the first international conference of the Alpine protected Areas that was held in 1995 in Gap, the managers of protected areas representing all Alpine countries decided to collaborate immediately more closely in all land management issues, and to make use of the experiences of their colleagues, as well as to draft and promote common projects in the protected areas. After some preparation works, since January 1997 a Coordination Unit for the Alpine Net-work was set up. The Alpine Network of Protected areas was not established and institution-alised as a union, nor as an association, but as a French government agency, whose objective is the concrete implementation of the Alpine Convention. The implementation is based on two basic principles: joint responsibility and continuity. During the years, numerous technical working groups have been set up, that deal with various issues regarding the management of protected areas, and the protection of species, resources and habitats. In all the working groups and their events, the reference to the Alpine Convention and its protocols is clear and evident. The analysed themes are made accessible also to specialists and the general public by means of appropriate publications, always in the 4 official languages of the Convention. The Alpine Network supports its members in drafting and implementing joint projects within the framework of European programmes (z.B. INTERREG III B – Habitalp, INTERREG III B -ALPENCOM), promotes common monitoring efforts about wildlife and flora, defines together with its partners in the protected areas and other nature protection bodies common concepts and products for public relations purposes and organises technical meetings, study tours as well as staff exchange with respect to practice-oriented issues. All this has led to a strong collaboration between the Alpine Protected areas, through the regular exchange of methods and direct technical and personal contacts, that give life also to the contents of the Alpine Convention. A specialist association has emerged between protected areas and their managers, that follows four working focuses, that were developed in agreement with the multi-year working programme of the Alpine Convention. These are first the collaboration as theme network, second the collaboration as ecological network, third the collaboration as communication network and fourth the collaboration in specific actions. Since however only large and ecologically consistent protected areas can ensure a lasting and sustainable protection of the biotic and abiotic nature heritage of the Alps and can guarantee natural processes, the German Presidency of the Alpine Convention has invited the Alpine Network to propose a concrete study about the issue of trans-border protected areas and ecological corridors. The execution of the survey was approved by the Permanent Comittee of the Alpine Convention and was supported by the contracting parties. This is the first and very concrete step for the creation of the space dimension of the network, as is established in the Alpine convention. The issue of trans-border protected areas, the tuning of their objectives and actions and the creation of connections between the Alpine protected areas will lead to new quality of nature protection in the Alps. The study is implemented ac-cording to a decision of the 8th Alpine Conference of 2004, supported by a decision of the 9th Alpine Conference of 2006, that has established a working group, made up of representatives of the member states, the permanent secretariat, the observers to the Alpine Convention and non governmental associations. The Alpine Network of Protected Areas represents therefore the largest and most exhaustive specialist network of space nature protection within the Alpine Convention. Alongside the contents


of the nature protection protocol, it also deals with themes of other protocols (e.g. mountain agriculture, tourism, space planning and sustainable development …), that are related to the protected areas. The Alpine protected areas are areas of particular interest to visitors and the population. They protect a century-old nature and cultural heritage and can act as models in modern nature protection. These are communication spaces in particular through their visitors’ centres, their information policy and by welcoming and taking care of tourists and hikers. The Alpine Convention is present here, and the protected areas are one of its loudspeakers. The example of the Alpine Network of Protected Areas was taken also within the framework of the Carpathian Convention. A similar network, currently under way, is oriented to the Al-pine Network and is supported within the framework of the mountain partnerships fostered by the Alpine Convention. The Alpine Network also dealt with the construction of a network of protected areas in the Pyrenees. The Alpine Convention gave some impulses. The Alpine Network of Protected areas is the oldest initiative. More than 10 years after its foundation, now its staff is made available as a volutanry performance of the memberstate France to the overall community of states of the Alpine Convention, thus establishing a defined organisational and institutional link between the Alpine Network of Protected Areas and the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention. In Brief: Alpine Network of Protected Areas • At its establishment, linked to the Les Ecrins (F) National Park from an administrative viewpoint with a Coordination Unit of 5 permanent people and staff linked to the various projects • Supported by the French government and the Alpine regions of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur and Rhône Alpes as well as by other member states of the Alpine Convention according to the various projects • More than 400 large protected areas of all categories, of which 14 national and 65 na-ture or regional parks • Around 2000 managers and people in charge of protected areas • Represents around 23 % of the Alpine area as well as almost all Alpine plants, ani-mals and habitats • Works according to the principle of joint responsibility and continuity • More than 200 events and numerous publications and exhibitions since 1995 • Since 2006 international institution of France and the staff of the network associated as voluntary contribution to the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention


Measuring biodiversity in a temporal context Kathy J. Willis Long-term Ecology Laboratory, Biodiversity Research Group, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Oxford, OX1 3QY Three pertinent questions for biodiversity conservation are: what to conserve? how to conserve? where to conserve? From genes through to habitats, numerous data gathering and modelling initiatives are underway to seek answers to these questions, most relying on spatial or short-term ecological data spanning only a few decades. In this paper it will be argued that it is essential also to consider a temporal dimension in biodiversity conservation. Temporal records have much to offer in addition to existing datasets, for example in the determination of which species and/or regions are most at risk from climate change, the processes responsible for current patterns of biodiversity, and identification of regions of greatest genetic diversity (ESUs). An additional question that can be addressed by using a temporal dimension is when to conserve. Variability through time is an inherent part of ecosystem behavior and it is thus essential to understand the range of natural variability. Under what conditions do negative impacts become apparent? And how can thresholds be determined beyond which specific management plans should be implemented? The pivotal issue of this paper is not whether long-term records are of interest to conservation biologists, but how they can practically be utilised in the process of conserving.

Biodiversity Conservation – From Genes to Habitats Abstracts speakers 11

Selecting conservation priority areas using different biodiversity criteria Aletta Bonn1 and Kevin Gaston 1 Moors for the Future Partnership, Peak District National Park, Edale, Derbyshire, United Kingdom International treaties call for the protection of biodiversity in all its manifestations, including ecosystem and species diversities. The selection of most priority area networks focuses, however, primarily on species richness and occurrence. The effectiveness of this approach in capturing higher order manifestations of biodiversity, that is ecosystem and environmental diversity patterns, remains poorly understood. Using a case study of birds and environmental data from South Africa and Lesotho, we test how complementary networks that maximise species diversity perform with regard to their representation of ecosystem and environmental diversity, and vice versa. We compare these results to the performance of the existing reserve network. We conclude that focusing on any single biodiversity component alone is insufficient to protect other components. We offer explanations for this in terms of the autocorrelation of species diversity in environmental space.

12 Abstracts Speakers Biodiversity Conservation – From Genes to Habitats

Biodiversity monitoring for the Natura2000 Network: Old Ideas and New Proposals Alessandro Chiarucci, G. Bacaro and D. Rocchini University of Siena, Dept. Environmental Science “G. Sarfatti”, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy To accomplish the 2010 target, it is essential to assess how effective is the conservation provided by the Natura2000 network and to develop tools for quantifying future changes. Since the Habitat Directive focuses on monitoring efforts required to assess long term change in species composition for Sites of Community Importance (SCI), techniques based on probabilistic sampling represent valuable a tool for detecting biodiversity changes. These permit to estimate changes basing on rigorous hypothesis testing and provide sound science-based information to resource managers and decision makers. We reports the preliminary results of the application of a sample based approach developed to monitor changes in plant species composition in a SCI network in Tuscany. On this basis we argue the way this approach can be used as a straightforward tool to analyze changes of different biodiversity components, from ! (plot scale), " (SCI scale) and # (network scale) diversity.


Past and future migration of key species in response to arctic climate change: A large-scale comparative study of genetic pattern Dorothee Ehrich*, Pernille Bronken Eidesen, Inger Greve Alsos, Gro Hilde Jacobsen, Inger Skrede, Pierre Taberlet, Kristine Westergaard and Christian Brochmann * National Centre for Biosystematics, NHM, UIO, P.O. Box 1172 Blindern, NO-0318 Oslo, Norway Plants in arctic and sub-arctic regions have experienced large-scale range shifts in response to the Pleistocene climate fluctuations. Their histories can be reconstituted using genetic methods. Here we investigate 18 plant species in the northern part of their range using AFLP data. Our comparative study shows both common pattern, such as phylogeogrpahic barriers, and the individuality of each species. In particular, we analyzed the colonization history of the most isolated arctic archipelago, Svalbard, for nine plant species. Complex colonization patterns involving frequent dispersal and several source areas were inferred. Dispersal over winter sea ice appears to be more frequent than over open water. Climate change is predicted to be particularly rapid in the Arctic also in the near future, thus dispersal will play an important role in determining the composition of future ecosystems. We investigate how large-scale AFLP data can be used to quantify the migration ability of species.


Patterns of Diversity in the High-Mountain Flora of the Alps Thorsten Englisch*, Wolfgang Ahlmer, Gheorghe Coldea, Jean-Pierre Dalmas, Siegrun Ertl, Luc Garraud, Nejc Jogan, Alexander Kagalo, Benoît Lequette, Roman Letz, Karol Marhold, Fabrizio Martini, Zbigniew Mirek, Harald Niklfeld, Halinka Piekos-Mirkowa, Filippo Prosser, Martin Scheuerer, Luise Schratt-Ehrendorfer, Alberto Selvaggi, Thomas Wilhalm, Thomas Wohlgemuth, IntraBioDiv Consortium * Dept. Biogeography, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria.

We aimed to investigate plant species diversity of the total high-mountain (hm) flora of the Alps and Carpathians. A list of c.1600 hm-species (2050 hm-taxa) was defined for comparisons of species richness, endemism and rarity patterns within the study area. The hm-flora of the Alps comprises c.1300 species, 23% are considered as endemics. Only 1/3 of the hm-flora of the Alps is shared with the Carpathians and the level of hm-endemism is significantly higher in the Alps than in the Carpathians. Regions of the Alps with intermediate species richness are nearly as diverse as the richest areas in the Carpathians (350 species). Patterns of species richness and functional diversity based on seed and dispersal related traits are outlined. Aspects of endemism and rarity and their contribution to total species richness are discussed. We conclude that different measures need to be considered to preserve hm-diversity as a whole and with respect to endemism, rarity and functional traits of the hm-flora.


Biodiversity at gene level in Mediterranean conifers: where is conservation most urgently needed? Bruno Fady INRA – URFM, Domaine St Paul – Site Agroparc, F-84914 Avignon, France The Mediterranean region is one of earth’s biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al. 2000).The Mediterranean Basin contains 30 000 plant species, e.g. approx 10% of all known plant species on Earth (Blondel and Aronson, 1999) on a surface that represent only 1.5% of Earth dry land. A total of 290 indigenous tree species and sub-species (of which 201 are endemics) can be found in the Mediterranean (Fady and Médail 2004) although only 30 species are found in temperate Europe (the size of temperate Europe is 3 to 4 times that of the Mediterranean Basin). Approx. 80% of all European endemics are found in the Mediterranean. Species level biodiversity is only part of the biodiversity story. Here, I will present how gene level biodiversity is structured in the Mediterranean and what this may tell us in terms of conservation efforts. I compared the genetic diversity within (heterozygosity) and among (Gst) populations of 4 Mediterranean conifer genera (Abies, Cedrus, Cupressus and Pinus) with that of non Mediterranean conifers, using a meta-analysis approach. Mediterranean conifers are more diverse within and among populations than non-Mediterranean conifers. However, their high diversity is not evenly distributed: western-Mediterranean populations are significantly less diverse than their eastern Mediterranean counterparts, and thermo-Mediterranean conifers are also significantly less diverse than meso- and montane-Mediterranean conifers. Unevenly distributed late glacial climatic conditions may be responsible for this pattern. If these neutral genetic diversity patterns can be indicative of adaptive potential, western Mediterranean populations may be doubly at risk: they have low effective population size and they contain genes selected under colder climate than eastern Mediterranean populations, i.e. not appropriate for global warming. Monitoring at European level and possibly increasing conservation effort is urgently needed for western Mediterranean ecosystems.


INTRABIODIV – an empirical test of correlations among biodiversity F. Gugerli1, T. Englisch2, H. Niklfeld2, A. Tribsch2,3, Z. Mirek4, M. Ronikier4, N. Zimmermann1, R. Holderegger1, P. Taberlet5 and IntraBioDiv consortium 1 Ecological Genetics & Evolution, WSL Swiss Federal Research Institute, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903

Birmensdorf, Switzerland 2 Dept. of Biogeography, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Wien, Austria 3 present address: Dept. Organismic Biology/Ecology and Diversity of Plants, University of Salzburg,

Hellbrunnerstrasse 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria 4 Dept. of Vascular Plant Systematics, Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Science, Kraków (IBPAS),

Lubicz 46, 31-512 Kraków, Poland 5 Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine (LECA), CNRS UMR 5553, University Joseph Fourier, BP 53, 2233 Rue de

la Piscine, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France Biodiversity in its entire complexity is a key parameter for ecosystem functioning, and conservation efforts need to consider all three levels of biodiversity – habitats, species and genes. There is largely an agreement that species richness directly relates to habitat diversity in many ecosystems. Genetic diversity, however, has not been included in empirical studies on biodiversity relationships to date. The EC-funded project INTRABIODIV elucidates the relationships between the three biodiversity levels, exemplified on plant diversity in the European Alps and the Carpathian Mountains. The results of this project should indicated possible correlations among the three diversity levels and provide a basis for decisions on conservation areas. In this introduction, I will summarize our motivation to approach such a large-scale study. More specifically, the sampling design and overall methodological background will be provided for better understanding of the subsequent summarizing presentations of specific results.


Effects of habitat fragmentation on forest genetic diversity: a case study in the European beech Fagus sylvatica Alistair S. Jump and Josep Penuelas The University of York, Heslington, YO10 5DD York, United Kingdom It has been assumed that wind-pollinated forest trees are at low risk from the effects of habitat fragmentation. In the Montseny Mountains of Catalonia (NE Spain) historical clearance of F. sylvatica forest for grazing land has led to this species being confined to a series of small isolated populations along a mountain ridge. On a neighbouring ridge, an extensive area of continuous forest remains. By comparing forest populations from these two regions, we report the effect that habitat fragmentation has had on the genetic diversity and population genetic structure of this species. The fragmentation of the F. sylvatica forest has led to genetic bottlenecks, elevated inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity within populations, together with a break up of this species’ breeding system. Our results demonstrate that even this long lived high gene flow species is susceptible to the effects of habitat fragmentation.


Floristic richness and biodiversity patterns in the flora of the Carpathians Zbigniew Mirek*, Wolfgang Ahlmer, Gheorghe Coldea, Jean-Pierre Dalmas, Siegrun Ertl, Luc Garraud, Nejc Jogan, Alexander Kagalo, Benoît Lequette, Roman Letz, Karol Marhold, Fabrizio Martini, Zbigniew Mirek, Harald Niklfeld, Halinka Piekos-Mirkowa, Filippo Prosser, Martin Scheuerer, Luise Schratt-Ehrendorfer, Alberto Selvaggi, Thomas Wilhalm, Thomas Wohlgemuth, IntraBioDiv-Consortium * Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, PL-31-512 Kraków, Poland High-mountain flora of the Carpathians consists of ca 750 species. Over 65% of them are shared with the Alps; less than 20% are considered endemic. More than 100 species (ca 15%) of the high-mountain flora are the species occurring in the Carpathians but lacking in the Alps. Basic statistics on the high-mountain flora of the Carpathians and phytogeographical differentiation of this arch, as well as floristic characteristics of its subunits are provided. Floristic differences between phytogeographical subunits of the Carpathians are characterized using various phytogeographical and ecological categories. Special attention is drawn to various types of endemics and other taxa distinguishing the Carpathians and their subunits. Different phytogeographical patterns of species distribution in the Carpathians are discussed and characterized both in qualitative and quantitative aspects, including assessment of the high-mountain flora richness and distinguishing centres of diversity (hot spots). General relationships between Carpathian and Alpine flora are outlined.


The Millennium Seed Bank Project (MSBP) and the European Native Seed Conservation Network (ENSCONET) - two ex-situ conservation projects for wild plant species Jonas Müller Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Seed Conservation Department, Wakehurst Place, RH17 6TN Ardingly, West Sussex, United Kingdom Seed banks and ex-situ conservation are important plant conservation strategies, an insurance policy against the loss of species in their wild habitats and complementing to research and other conservation actions. This contribution presents two flagship ex-situ plant conservation projects: the Millennium Seed Bank Project (MSBP) and the European Native Seed Conservation Network (ENSCONET), both managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ENSCONET is funded by the EC and aims to improve quality, co-ordination and integration of European seed conservation practice, policy and research for native plant species and to assist EU conservation policy. It is active in 17 European countries and covers most of Europe's bio-geographical regions. The vision of the MSBP is to be a leading worldwide seed conservation network, capable of safeguarding targeted wild plant species with their genetic diversity and contributing to global conservation goals. It thereby fully depends on partnerships with local institutions and national governments. The MSBP expects to collect and bank the seed from 24,200 wild plant species by 2010. Important key aims are effective partnerships, high quality collections, research and technology transfer, and increased public awareness.


Species and habitat diversity in the protected mires of Latvia Mara Pakalne Latvian Fund for Nature, project manager, researcher, Raina Blvd. 31-6, LV-1050 Riga, Latvia In Latvia mires comprise 4,9% from the total land. More detailed studies were carried in the 3 nature reserves of Latvia Cena Mire, Stikli Mires, Klani Mire. These are also the sites of the EC financed LIFE project Mires. The sites are nationally and internationally important as include diverse habitat mire, forest, lake types and protected plant and animal species. In total 14 habitats of EU importance and 14 species of EC Habitats Directive are known there, from which 4 are priority habitats (7110*, 9080*, 91D0*, 9010*). Mire vegetation in the intact parts of the raised bogs has a typical hummock - hollow complex and includes labyrinths of bog pools and ridges. At the same time the sites are threatened by drainage, peat extraction and fire. From all the sites the highest species and habitat diversity has Stikli Mires (total area of 6636 ha). It has 116 especially protected species of Latvia, 38 species of Habitats Directive, 2 protected habitat of Latvia, 8 protected habitats of EU importance.


Selection criteria for conservation strategies applying an analysis of floristic distribution and functional trait data C. Römermann, O. Tackenberg and P. Poschlod Institute of Botany, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany The comparison of historical and floristic data allows an assessment of the decline and threat of species. These data were collected for species of specific habitats in Bavaria. Furthermore, data on functional traits which are related to the main processes namely eutrophication and fragmentation thought to be responsible for the decline of these species were also collected for all species applying standardized measures developed within the LEDA-project. The results show that only some traits are strongly correlated but that both processes, eutrophication and fragmentation could be shown to cause the decline of species.


Natural disturbance shapes habitat and plant diversity in the subalpine forest belt Christian Rixen, Susanne Haag, Dominik Kulakowski and Peter Bebi Swiss Federal Institute for Forest Snow and Landcape Research, Flüelastr. 11, 7260 Davos, Switzerland Disturbances by avalanches have created unique habitat for animals and plants in subalpine ecosystems world-wide, but at the same time avalanches can pose a major threat to humans. Thus, avalanches are suppressed by means of snow barriers to protect settlements and infrastructures, which results in a fundamentally changed disturbance regime in avalanche tracks. We address ecological consequences of avalanche suppression on habitat and plant diversity. Species richness was higher in avalanche tracks compared with undisturbed subalpine forest. The species composition indicated a wider range of ecological niches in active than in inactive avalanche tracks. Suppression of avalanches reduced the proportion of alpine species in formerly active tracks. The results suggest that avalanche disturbance can exert an important influence on the habitat and species diversity of subalpine forests. Anthropogenic changes in the natural regime of avalanche disturbance are likely to contribute significantly to future landscape changes in subalpine forests.


Genetic diversity in capercaillie and its value for conservation at different spatial scales Gernot Segelbacher University Freiburg, Tennenbacher Str 4, D-79106 Freiburg, Germany Capercaillie is considered an important umbrella species for boreal and montane forest biodiversity conservation. Genetic diversity in this species has been investigated at different spatial scales using microsatellite and mtDNA data. Populations have not only been sampled across Europe at a species level but also at the habitat level (e.g. mountain ridges in the Alps and the Black Forest). I will demonstrate how the results of a non-invasive genetic study can be used to identify conservation priorities and specifically discuss the importance of different genetic markers for different spatial levels. Genetic data have been analysed in relation to their spatial distribution within the landscape and the current distribution compared to genetic data obtained from museum skins.


Impact of gene flow on biodiversity Vicky Schneider and Ole Seehausen EAWAG/University of Bern, Seestrasse 79, CH-6047, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland Conservation deals with the maintenance of diversity of species and the underlying ecological processes. Theoretically diversity at the species and ecological level is somehow connected to the genetic diversity and environmental heterogeneity. Genetic diversity is thought to constrain ecological diversification. On the other hand, the number of coexisting species is thought to be limited by the diversity of ecological niches, which depends on the levels of habitat diversity (environmental heterogeneity). Therefore not only changes in the habitat matter to biodiversity conservation, but also merge of distinct units of adaptive diversity (populations-species), would lead to biodiversity loss. Here we show different systems where biodiversity conservation faces major problems due to the plausible loss of species diversity associated with the extinction of gene pools by their homogenization.


Spatial isolation and genetic differentation in naturally fragmented alpine plant populations Jürg Stöcklin, Patrick Kuss, Andrea R. Pluess, Hafdis Hanna Aegisdottir Botanical Instiute, University of Basel, Schönbeinstr. 6, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland The effect of landscape fragmentation on the genetic diversity and adaptive potential of plant populations is a major issue in conservation biology. Here, we investigated molecular patterns of three Alpine species (Campanula thyrsoides, Epilobium fleischeri, Geum reptans) and ask whether spatial isolation has led to high levels of population differentiation, and to a decrease of within-population variability. For all three species we found an isolation-by-distance relationship but only a moderately high differentiation among populations. Even small populations contained high levels of genetic diversity. There was no indication that a high long-distance dispersal potential enhances genetic connectivity among populations. Our results suggest that other life-history traits may play an important role in genetic diversity partitioning and that gene flow seems to have a large stochastic component. Spatial isolation in the alpine environment has a strong influence on population relatedness but several factors can considerably influence the strength of this relationship.


Genetic variation in the alpine zone; linking genetic diversity, breeding system and population dynamics in an elevational context Irène Till-Bottraud1 and Mary T K Arroyo2 1 Université Joseph Fourier, Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, Equipe GPB UMR-CNRS 5553, BPX53 Grenoble 38041, France 2 Univ Chile, Fac Ciencias, Inst Ecol & Biodivers, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile Genetic variation is an important factor of population persistence because more diverse populations have a greater adaptive potential and a lower risk of inbreeding. These are in turn liked to demographic processes and breeding system. In the context of global change, where we expect alpine species to show a greater impact as they will “climb up” the mountains as climate warms up, assessing the genetic diversity and its determinants along an elevation gradient seem of utmost importance. We here review hypotheses and literature data addressing these questions, and present preliminary results from IntraBioDiv and other research data. Population dynamics combines with genetic diversity and breeding system to determine population fate through the “extinction vortex”. Moreover, the breeding system of species partly determines the level and distribution of genetic diversity by mixing genes through pollen transport and fecundation. However, in plants, the breeding system is in turn conditioned by environmental conditions such as pollinator availability (very low pollinator activity selects for either higher selfing or increased flower attractivity) or flight distance but also by plant longevity: annuals tend to be selfed, while perennials are mostly outcrossed. As elevation increases, pollinator availability decreases, but longevity increases, leading to conflicting hypotheses about selfing rates. Thus the level and variation of genetic diversity are extremely difficult to predict along an elevation gradient. Literature data show that obligate outbreeding systems increase in frequency with elevation on some mountains, but the reverse trend has also been found. Similarly, very few annual species are found in the alpine belt of some mountains, but annuals are much more frequent in others. Additionally, perennial plants can exhibit very different longevities and the pattern is complicated because the level of selfing itself determines some of the life history parameters. The general pattern of level and structure of genetic diversity is thus very complex and may vary from massif to massif depending on historical or climatic factors. Research financed by: ECOS, FONDECYT 1020956, 7020956, ICM P02-051


IntraBioDiv – genetic diversity and patterns of differentiation in alpine plants Andreas Tribsch1, Michal Ronikier2, IntraBioDiv-Consortium 1Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria. Current address: Department of Organismic Biology/Ecology and Diversity of Plants, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstrasse 34, A-5020 Salzburg, Austria 2 Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, PL-31-512 Kraków, Poland Genetic diversity (AFLPs) of 40 alpine plant species was analysed across their geographical distribution in Alps and Carpathians. Most datasets revealed non-random genetic patterns. We present an overview of two aspects: (1) patterns of genetic diversity within and among populations, and (2) phylogeographic patterns. Regarding the first, levels and distribution of genetic variation within populations and presence of rare markers, restricted to limited groups of populations, are explored. Regarding the second, several numerical methods are applied to uncover significant phylogeographic structures repeatedly found in almost all taxa. Moreover, comparative analyses show correlations between genetic patterns and ecological properties of the species, and also give new insight into intraspecific relationships of populations within and between Alps and Carpathians. We hope that the IntraBioDiv data will contribute to disentangling factors causing patterns of genetic diversity and give fascinating new insights into historical and present processes that shaped and still shape plants and their distributions.


Progress Report and Challenges on the Ecoregion Conservation Plan of the European Alpine Programme Aleardo Zaccheo Biodiversity Project Leader, WWF European Alpine Programme, CH-6501 Bellinzona, Switzerland At the end of 1999, the WWF European Alpine Programme was launched by the five WWF organizations of the Alps (WWF Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland). Its goal was to adapt the Ecoregion Conservation approach to the Alps. Historically, the national WWF organizations (NOs) had been working in the Alps for many years, but projects were mainly restricted within national boundaries with a relative lack of coordination among the different NOs. Several other organizations, institutions and agencies had also been active in the Alps and many initiatives are underway to conserve biodiversity and to promote sustainable development, especially under the framework of the Alpine Convention. However, the scope of most conservation activities was limited in space and time, rarely extending beyond national borders or lasting more than a few years. Due to the critical conservation status of the ecoregion, WWF spotted and identified the need for a strategic response to scale up conservation efforts. The WWF European Alpine Programme was thus initiated to coordinate WWF activities in the Alps while developing a long-term vision with the pertinent parties involved and preserving the ecoregion's ecological integrity for future generations.

The ecoregion conservation approach can be summarized in the following five steps:

1. Reconnaissance: Analysis of the biological and the socioeconomic situation of the ecoregion and assessment of the need for a complete ecoregional approach.

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2. Biodiversity Vision: Identification of the Priority Conservation Areas and ecological corridors of the ecoregion.

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3. Ecoregion Action Plan: Development of an ecoregion action plan, for each Priority Conservation Area, in cooperation with local partners and stakeholders.

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4. Implementation: of a shared ecoregion action plan, in cooperation with the partners and stakeholders of a given Priority Conservation Area.

5. Continuous monitoring and evaluation: of the results obtained by the ecoregion action plans, which can be possibly adjusted, according to the periodic findings obtained.

Status: So far we have concluded the first three steps and are working on both steps four and five. At the Priority Conservation Area level, we have initiated the implementation of the Conservation Action Plan on three Priority Pilot Areas:

(i) between Switzerland and Italy: Area H1 (sottoceneri - alto Lario); (ii) between France and Italy: Area A (alpes maritimes / alpi marittime); and (iii) between Switzerland Italy and Austria: Area L (Engadina – Stelvio – Stilfser Joch).

Furthermore, at a Panalpine Level, we are part of a very influential Alpine consortium which studies connectivity between Protected Areas, the large carnivore working group, and will also host, this coming 12 and 13 December, the European Alps Ecoregion Workshop for the 2012 Protected Areas Programme.


Potential Habitat Diversity and correlates with species richness in the Alps and Carpathians Niklaus E. Zimmermann1, Katharina Steinmann1, Dirk Schmatz1, Torsten Englisch2

1 Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland 2 University of Vienna, Austria Larger scale species richness is strongly dependent on habitat diversity. In mountain systems, habitat diversity is often difficult to assess because of fines scale topographic variation and lack of consistent data availability. Here we present a method that assesses the potential, bioclimatically-based habitat diversity at large spatial scales driven by fine-scale topographic variation. Further, we tested to what degree this potential habitat diversity explains the high mountain species richness in the Alps and Carpathians using the IntraBioDiv data set. We develop a series of climate maps at the spatial resolution of 200m. Therefore, we used climate station data, a digital elevation model spanning Alps and Carpathians, and the DAYMET climate mapping package. Several climate maps were selected and recombined to form small biolimatic hypercubes in the environmental hyperspace. By this, each pixel belonging to the same hypercube type can be considered to share similar environmental characteristics, and thus they belong to the same potential habitat type. The number of such habitat types within IntraBioDiv sample grid cells reached up to 300. Depending on the threshold elevation and aggregation function, the correlation with high mountain species richness reached values of r=0.85. In the Alps, the habitat-richness correlations were higher than in the Carpathians, likely due to better climate data availability.

30 Abstracts Posters Biodiversity Conservation – From Genes to Habitats

Conservation of habitat diversity in Klani Mire nature Reserve in Latvia Valda Baronina Latvian Fund for Nature, project manager, expert, Raina Blvd. 31-6, LV-1050 Riga, Latvia Klani Mire nature reserve is one of especially protected nature areas of Latvia, included in European network of protected territories Natura 2000. There are 9 habitats of EU Habitat Directive Annex I (7110*, 7140, 7120, 7230, 91D0*, 9080*, 9010*, 6410, 3130) and 10 protected habitats of Latvia. Over 530 vascular plant and 158 bryophyte species are known in the site. There is information about 22 protected bird species of Latvia and EU Bird Directive. The main part of Klani Mire has the typical vegetation of raised bogs. After the drainage the natural outflow of Klani Lake does not exist anymore, the water from the lake flows away along about 2 m wide drainage channel conecting Klani Lake and Busnieku Lake. Vast drainage ditches surround the site and also damage the raised bog habitats – the length of drainage ditches reaches 8,5 km. Building of dams with the aim to stop degradation of the raised bog habitats is planned.

Biodiversity Conservation – From Genes to Habitats Abstracts Posters 31

Species survival in northern glacial refugia of Europe: chance or choice? Bhagwat, S.A. and Willis, K.J. Oxford University Centre for the Environment, South Parks Road, OX2 6LB Oxford, United Kingdom [email protected] The Iberian, Italian and Balkan peninsulas are considered to have been refugia for many temperate species during the last glaciation. It is believed that these were source areas for temperate species that migrated northwards following the glacial retreat. However, recent fossil and genetic evidence suggests that many species also survived in “cryptic” northern refugia and rapidly colonized northern Europe following the glacial retreat. So the question is: which species survived in the three Mediterranean peninsulas and which survived elsewhere? The cryptic northern refugia were presumably small patches of suitable habitat surrounded by inhospitable landscapes – somewhat similar to forest patches in fragmented landscapes. Work on presently fragmented landscapes and the ecological traits of species in them, has demonstrated that these species possess a number of key characteristics pertinent to their survival. In this poster we explore these traits in relation to the fossil and genetic evidence for over hundred species that are known to have survived in Pleistocene glacial refugia of Europe and ask whether northerly survival was a matter of chance or choice.


Phenetic and molecular diversity in Quercus crenata Lam. Lucia Conte, Claudia Cotti and Silia Crema Dept. Biology – University, via Irnerio, 42, 40126 Bologna, Italy Quercus crenata Lam. (Q. pseudosuber Santi) grows sympatrically with the supposed parental species (Q. cerris L., Q. suber L.) in peninsular Italy, but also occurs in northern Italy, where Q. suber is currently lacking. Plants from northern and southern Italy resulted taxonomically distinct after a morphometric survey. The southern plants are hybrids inter parentes, for which the name Quercus pseudosuber can be mantained. The northern plants are possible relicts of ancient hybridization and can be referred as Quercus crenata. In addition, molecular markers were employed to test the hypothesis of hybrid origin of Q. crenata in northern Italy. Results from molecular analyses implied that exchange of neutral markers has been considerable between the three species, while differences in morphological characters have remained comparatively stable. The resulting trends support the hypothesis of hybrid origin for Q. crenata occurring in northern Italy and suggest asymmetrical backcrossing to Q. cerris acting as the recurrent parent.


Looking for genetic boundaries using a wombling-based method: an application to the analysis of genetic diversity based on INTRABIODIV data A. Crida1, Alvarez N.2, Manel S. 1 and Intrabiodiv Consortium 1 LECA, CNRS UMR 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, F-38041 Grenoble cedex 9, France

2 University of Neuchâtel, 11, rue Emile-Argand, CH-2009, Neuchâtel, Switzerland The preservation of biodiversity represents a major challenge for the society of the 21st century. Ultimately, conservation efforts must focus on the preservation of both species and diversity within species. Intraspecific diversity is an increasingly hot topic in conservation biology which first requires us to identify the spatial pattern of genetic diversity. Looking for genetic boundaries (i.e., areas of sharp changes in gene frequencies) is a promising approach for the identification of such spatial patterns of intraspecific genetic diversity. Whereas the identification of boundaries has been a widely used tool for several decades in ecology, it has received very little attention in population genetics. We introduce here an original method based on Womble’s approach, in order both to identify genetic boundaries and to test their significance using a binomial test. The method is illustrated by analyzing AFLP data of the woodrush Luzula alpinopilosa (Juncaceae) in the Alps. The resulting boundary can then be correlated to environmental variables in a landscape genetics perspective.


Using palaeoecology to improve biodiversity conservation in the Apuseni Natural Park, Romania Angelica Feurdean and Katherine J. Willis School of Geography, Centre of the Environment, South Park Road, OX1 3QY Oxford, United Kingdom [email protected], http://www.parcapuseni.ro Palaeoecology provides long-term information on composition of the forest before and after the disturbance, the time resilience of the disturbance and the time that the forest needs to regenerate. This shows the great potential of palaeoecology to provide significant improvements in the effectiveness of conservation planning. Analysis of fossil pollen, plant macrofossils, charcoal, stable isotopes 12C/13C, 15N, mineral magnetic in combination with Pb210 and 14C dating on four sediment sequences from the Apuseni National (Apuseni Mountains, NW Romania) park will be use to illustrate how the interaction between climate change, human activities and other disturbances have shaped the present landscapes over thousands years. These results will help managers in their actions and will therefore have practical implication for habitats and biodiversity conservation.


Linking The Need For Conservation Of Forest Genetic Resources To Requirements Of Decision Makers and Stakeholders Heino Konrad and Thomas Geburek Bundesforschungs- und Ausbildungszentrum für Wald, Naturgefahren und Landschaft, Hauptstrasse 7, A-1140 Vienna, Austria Genetic diversity harboured in forests is realized to be indispensable for long-term forest sustainability in numerous legally-binding (hard laws) and non-legally binding commitments (soft laws). Hard laws include the Convention on Biological Diversity, Alpine Convention including respective protocols, EU-Directives, while politically binding obligations comprise several UN-Declarations as well as the Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe. However, on the national as well as the international level significant implementation deficits in the conservation of FGR still exist. The monetary valuation of FGR may help to improve the acceptance for the need of FGR conservation. Further the dialogue between forest geneticists, policy makers and stakeholders needs to be intensified. Three different theoretical approaches – rational choice theory, common property regimes, and advocacy coalition framework – are considered that may help to reconcile the differing political and economical interests in FGR.


Hybridization as a Source of Biodiversity Salome Mwaiko, Vicky Schneider and Ole Seehausen EAWAG/University of Bern, Seestrasse 79, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland Adaptive radiations are a much more common phenomenon than previously thought. It is becoming more and more evident that actually explosive adaptive radiations might represent the initial potential for species increment and subsequently persistent diversity. Our work focuses on the spectacular adaptive divergence of Lake Victoria Haplochromine cichlids. More than five hundred species within a very short time period (15.000 years). Here we present the results showing the role of hybridization as a source for diversity (from genes to communities).


Evolutionary history of the Ranunculus alpestris group in the European Alps and the Carpathians Ovidiu Paun1, Peter Schoenswetter2, Manuela Winkler3 and Andreas Tribsch4 1 Dep. of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria.

Current address: Molecular Systematics Section, Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 2EH

2 Dep. of Biogeography and Botanical Garden, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, A-1030 Vienna, Austria 3 Dep. of Integrative Biology, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU), Gregor-

Mendel-Str. 33, A-1180 Vienna 4 Dep. of Organismic Biology/Ecology and Diversity of Plants, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstrasse 34,

A-5020 Salzburg, Austria

Phylogeographic and phylogenetic analyses on AFLPs and matK sequence variation of cpDNA were used to asses the evolutionary history of alpine Ranunculus alpestris s.l. (including the closely related endemics R. bilobus and R. traunfelneri) in the European Alps and Carpathians. Analyses of AFLP data split the 90 populations studied in three groups. The endemic species, both restricted to Southern Alps, together with south-eastern-most populations of R. alpestris formed one group, while the rest of the later species was split in a western and an eastern group (including the Carpathian populations). Chloroplast DNA sequences showed substantial intraspecific variation and confirmed the split of the endemics from R. alpestris s.s., tentatively estimated to have happened ca. 2.3 million years ago. The low divergence between the two endemics suggests ongoing speciation, while the lack of a synapomorphic 6 bp deletion in the trnK intron (flanking the matK region) in an accession of R. bilobus might indicate that R. traunfelneri has evolved from within R. bilobus. Despite the clear high level of variation in AFLPs, there is no divergence of cpDNA between western and eastern R. alpestris s.s.


High genetic differentiation in the alpine plant Campanula alpina Jacq. in the Carpathians, Eastern Alps and Balkans: phylogeographical case study in Central European mountains M. Ronikier, E. Cie!lak, G. Korbecka, IntraBioDiv-Consortium Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lubicz 46, PL-31-512 Kraków, Poland IntraBioDiv project brings first comprehensive genetic data concerning differentiation and phylogeography of high-mountain flora of the Carpathians. Campanula alpina, analysed within the project, counts among key species of the Carpathian high-mountain silicicolous grasslands. Its distribution area includes all highest massifs of Carpathians, as well as Eastern Alps and Bulgarian mountains. The study based on a distribution-wide sampling (37 populations) and 159 AFLP markers revealed a highly hierarchical genetic structure. The most ancient genetic split separates Balkan mountains from more northerly areas, confirming morphological observations and a currently disregarded taxonomic division (subsp. alpina/orbelica); further genetic differentiation was observed between Alps and Carpathians, indicating a relatively old isolation. Clear genetic subdivision within Carpathians suggests, that current distribution of this species was rather due to existence of several refugial areas than to range expansion during the last glacial period. The main break separates Western and South-Eastern Carpathians, in line with classical botanical observations.


Ecological network for large carnivores in Romania - from local to national scale Laurentiu Rozylowicz and Steluta Manolache University of Bucharest, 1 N. Balcescu, 010041 Bucharest, Romania The Carpathian Mountains in Romania host the largest populations of large carnivores in Europe. A local ecological network has been designed in Vrancea between 2002 and 2005 in the frame of a LIFE Nature Project “In situ conservation of large carnivores from Vrancea County”, with the tools offered by landscape ecology. The area covered by the network represents the second highest density of large carnivores in Romania (6.5% of bear population, 3.7% of wolf population and 5.5% of lynx population). With the specific aim of protecting these large populations of large carnivores, we evaluate the degree of protection offered by proposed NATURA 2000 network proposed by Ministry for Water Management and Environment and to compare them with a virtual network created using the criteria from local ecological network from Vrancea County.


Modeling plant species richness of functional groups Katharina Steinmann and Niklaus E. Zimmermann Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstr. 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland Conservation biologists increasingly rely on empirical biodiversity distribution models for decision-making. Therefore, a good model quality is required. While statistical techniques were optimized to improve the model quality, less focus has been given to the question how the autecology of single species might affect the model quality. In the present study, two modeling approaches are compared: a direct versus a cumulative modeling approach. In the direct modeling approach, species richness is predicted by one single model calibrated for all species. In the cumulative modeling approach, the species are partitioned into functional groups. Models were calibrated for each functional group. The estimated species richness of each group was cumulated to predict the total species richness. As we hypothesize that the model quality depends on the ecology of single species, we expect that the cumulative modeling approach will lead to a higher precision in predicting species richness.


The species diversity of the Carpathians’ vascular flora Lydia Tasenkevich State Natural History Museum, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Ivan Franko L'viv National University, 18, Teatralna str., 79008 L’viv, Ukraine The native flora of the Carpathians is among the richest on the European continent. It is composed of 3,982 species and subspecies belonging to 131 families and 710 genera and makes up approximately 30 % of all European flora. Among Carpathian vascular plants 466 have been recognised as endemic and 36 as subendemic taxa (among these, there are 247 agamic and hybrydogenous microspecies). Of approximately 1500 pteridophytes and flowering plants listed in national (Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Hungarian, Ukrainian and Romanian) threatened and rare plant species inventories, a total of 344 taxa are to be considered as threatened on the pan-Carpathian scale. The 14 species have become extinct in the whole Carpathian area, 41 species and subspecies are classified as CE, 135 as EN, and 155 as VU. Their effective protection needs of joint efforts of conservationists from all Carpathian countries.


Identification of Genetic Transition Zones in Multiple Alpine Plant Species Conny Thiel-Egenter1, Nadir Alvarez2, Andreas Tribsch3, Rolf Holderegger1, Felix Gugerli1 1 Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland

IntraBioDiv-Consortium (http://intrabiodiv.vitamib.com) 2 University of Neuchâtel, 11, rue Emile-Argand, CH-2009, Neuchâtel, Switzerland 3 Dept. of Biogeography, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Wien, Austria

present address: Dept. Organismic Biology/Ecology and Diversity of Plants, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstrasse 34, 5020 Salzburg, Austria

Many molecular studies investigated the phylogeography of single alpine plant species. A recent review found evidence for three major phylogeographic breaks, separating areas of glacial survival in silicolous alpine plants. We were interested in whether there are common genetic transition zones shared among alpine plant species mainly growing on siliceous bedrock. One limitation of comparing phylogeographic results among species is that corresponding studies used different sampling designs. To overcome this, we used an extensive population sampling of 12 widespread and common plant species on a regular grid over the entire Alps. We used a new approach for identifying genetic transition zones by combining the advantages of statistical packages for Bayesian clustering and geographical identification of discontinuities. For comparing the obtained patterns among species, we applied a GIS-based function and obtained density zones of multi-species genetic transition zones. Strikingly, we found two break zones in the Alps that are common to most of the species investigated and are partly congruent with those proposed in the above mentioned review. These break zones divide well known biogeographic regions, such as the eastern and the western Alps and regions of species endemism and richness. Hence, our results underline that parallel processes act on both the genetic and the species level.


Winter climate change: How do alpine tundra plants respond to reduced snow depth and advanced snowmelt? Sonja Wipf Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Research Unit Ecosystem Boundaries, Team Alpine Ecosystems, Fluelastr. 11, 7260 Davos, Switzerland Snow covers alpine ecosystems for more than half of the year. Its disappearance marks the start of the growing season, which is gradually becoming earlier due to warming and changed precipitation patterns. How do these snow cover changes affect alpine ecosystems in the short and long-term? In alpine tundra in Davos, Switzerland, I test how natural communities react to changes in snow cover by experimentally decreasing snow depths and advancing snowmelt. I recorded the response of key plant species (phenology, fitness, reproduction, abundance) and ecosystem processes (herbivory, litter decomposition, nutrient and carbon cycling). Advanced snowmelt generally extended the potential growing season. However, plant fitness and fecundity responded negatively in most species. Increased sensitivity to spring frosts seemed to play a key role. Our results suggest that a lower snow:rain ratio and warmer spring might lead to harsher growing conditions following snowmelt, which may reduce plant fitness and nutrient availability.


How does the landscape affect patch occupancy in metapopulation models? Comparing Euclidean vs landscape-based inter-patch distance Flavio Zanini, Julie Jaquiery, Rodolphe Schlaepfer, Paul Marchesi and Alexandre H. Hirzel Geographical Information Systems Laboratory, EPFL, LaSIG-EPFL St. 18, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland Dispersal barriers and corridors between habitat patches can strongly affect colonization processes, and therefore patch occupation probability. However, most metapopulation dynamic models assume that heterogeneity in the landscape between patches can be neglected, basing dispersal on the Euclidean (shortest) distance between patches. For heterogeneous landscapes inter-patch distance should take into account the resistance of landscape features to movement, as with the least-cost algorithms implemented in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In this study, we explore how patch occupancy is sensitive to Euclidean versus a landscape-based distance (least-cost algorithm). We illustrate our method with two metapopulations of the Yellow-bellied Toad (Bombina variegata) in the Rhone plain, Switzerland. The approach allows us to identify which patches are the most sensitive to the inter-patch landscape; i.e., from a conservation point of view, those patches where improving connectivity (e.g., by building vegetated corridors, removing barriers to dispersal) might be a valuable management scenario.

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