Full title: Mountain areas and their importance for the conservation of plant diversity in Central European grasslands
Abstract
Many formerly common plant species of nutrient-poor grasslands have strongly declined in Europe in the last decades due to changes in land use practices and the use of mineral fertilizers, resulting in the destruction and fragmentation of these grasslands. In mountain areas the intensification of land use practices has only recently begun and many grasslands are still nutrient-poor and traditionally managed. Thus, while populations of declining plant species in lowland areas are often small and very isolated, the same species often still have large populations in mountain areas. These regions might thus be important reservoirs for the conservation of plant diversity and serve as sources for reintroductions. However, lowland and mountain populations of declining plant species may differ genetically because of local adaptation, the extent of which is currently unknown.
To assess the possible role of mountain regions for the conservation of regional plant diversity we will study the population genetics and local adaptation of Arnica montana, a characteristic plant species of nutrient-poor grasslands in lowland populations of Luxemburg and neighbouring regions in France and upland populations of the Vosges mountains using molecular markers, quantitative genetics and reciprocal transplant experiments.
Status of Phd
Supervisor at university: Prof. Dr. Serge Muller, Université Paul Verlaine, Metz, France.
Supervisor in Luxembourg: Dr. Guy Colling, MNHNL
PhD granted by the Luxembourg Ministry of Culture, Higher Education and Research. Duration: 01.07.2007 – 31.12.2008.
PhD applied at Fonds national de la recherche Luxembourg. Duration: 01.01.2009 – 31.06.2010.
Host institution: Laboratoire des Interactions Ecotoxicologie, Biodiversité, Ecosystèmes @ Université Paul Verlaine, Metz, France.
Contact
Tiphaine Maurice
Université Paul Verlaine – Metz
Laboratoire des Interactions Ecotoxicologie, Biodiversité, Ecosystèmes
U.F.R. Sci.F.A., Campus Bridoux, Avenue du Général Delestraint
F – 57070 Metz
E-mail : tiphaine.maurice@umail.univ-metz.fr
Department of Population Biology
Musée national d’histoire naturelle
25, rue Munster
L-2160 Luxembourg
Image gallery
Habitat fragmentation and habitat deterioration are considered to be the major reasons for the decline in the number of populations of many plant species, which are now often threatened with local extinction. Today, nutrient-poor calcareous grasslands are among the most threatened habitat types and often exist only as remnant islands in a matrix of unsuitable environment.
(1) The past few years have seen the completion of 14.000 relevés of dry site, near-natural forests, all commissioned by the Luxembourg forest administration (Administration des eaux et forêts). In the first project phase these data will be complemented by material from our own relevés as well as from relevés performed in the course of other studies in order to create a complete survey of all forest plant communities in Luxembourg. The results will be published in a monography coedited by the Musée national d’histoire naturelle and the Administration des eaux et forêts.
The butterfly species Lycaena helle and Parnassius apollo show similar distribution situations. L. helle represents a boreomontaneous species, which showed its maximal distribution over Europe during the early postglacial. Because of the climatic changes during the last thousands of years, this species extinct in most of the earlier distribution area in central Europe. Today, large populations are located in Scandinavia and the high European mountains, while some relict populations still exist in Europe (e.g. Ardennes, Eifel, Hohes Venn and Westerwald). The xeromontaneous butterfly species P. apollo shows similar distribution history like L. helle. That species is present over most parts of Scandinavia and the Alps and disappeared from most historical habitats in central Europe.Some relict populations (e.g. in the Mosel valley) are recently in a stable and vitale stage, which represent mostly subspecies. Both species are selected to test phylogeographic and nature conservation genetic scenarios. Modern moleculargenetic markers enable to analyse the genetic structure over the European distribution area (molecular taxonomy, phylogeography and molecular biogeography) as well as conservation genetic aspects (habitat isolation, minimum viable population size, genetic depressions) in a smaller spacial scale. The selected molecular markers (detection of mikrosatellite-DNA and sequencing of mtDNA) enable us to analyse individuals, collected in earlier times. With the subspecies P. apollo viningensis, a genetic time series over the last decades will show us potential genetic depressions during the 70s; during this periode many populations of this species declined because of the intensive use of pesticides, which could lead to population bottlenecks. In the case of P. apollo vinningensis, morphometric analyses (fluctuating assymetry) will complete and verify our genetic data set.
Erstmalig wird ein Überblick über die Graslandvegetation Luxemburgs erstellt. Hierzu wird sämtliches vorhandene Datenmaterial ausgewertet und synthetisiert. Eventuell identifizierte Lücken werden durch zusätzliche Erhebungen geschlossen.