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POLRES-Polarforskning POLRES

PEA-Puccinellia in the European Arctic -Who is who, who is where, and why?

Awarded: NOK 0.35 mill.

Arctic plants are rather recent (Late Tertiary-Pleistocene) immigrants or recently evolved. Two major processes in this evolution seem to have been hybridization and polyploidization, leading to complex relation patterns, and range of intermediate variant s between species. Thus, to untangle the evolutionary history, and evaluate the taxonomic status of arctic plants can be difficult. In addition, different botanical traditions in the so-called 'western' world and in the 'Soviet' world have further increas ed the confusion. Now both the political and global climate has changed, and as the former allow easier exchange of research findings and adjustment of methodology, we may be better equipped for the challenges brought around by the latter. Current climate warming has already resulted in species extinctions, range shifts, and phenological changes that decouple species interactions. Thus, climate change creates new challenges for biodiversity conservation and management in the Arctic. To meet those challeng es, we need to sort out who is who, who is where, and why. In this project, we seek to delimit taxa within one of the taxonomically complex arctic grass genera, Puccinellia Parl., through phylogenetic analyses based on morphology, genetic markers (AFLPs a nd/or sequencing) and ploidy level variation. We also seek to investigate the ecology and inter- and intra-population genetic diversity of a clonal subspecies restricted to Svalbard and Novaja Zemlja, to infer dispersal potential and clonal diversity in d ifferent bioclimatic zones. Further, we will add ecological investigations to sort out whether two redlisted species, one of them endemic to Svalbard, are separate entities, or just ecotypes of the more widespread species.

Funding scheme:

POLRES-Polarforskning POLRES