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Exploring and conserving a “microcosm”: whole-population genetic characterization within a refugial area of the endemic, relict conifer Picea omorika

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Abstract

The last resort for conservation of rare tree populations in refugial areas under high risk of climate driven extinction may be ex situ conservation and assisted translocation. Although such actions require detailed knowledge about the spatial scale and heterogeneity of the within-population distribution of genetic diversity, it is still unknown whether fine-scale spatial genetic structure (FSGS) is present in refugial populations of forest trees. In order to address this issue, we carried out the first whole-population genetic characterisation of a small and isolated refugial population of the IUCN red-listed Serbian spruce [Picea omorika (Panč.) Purk.] from the Balkans. All 418 adult individuals were georeferenced and genotyped at nuclear EST-SSRs and at a mitochondrial (mtDNA) locus. Spatial autocorrelation analyses provided only a simplified description of FSGS, which is concordant with findings in wind-pollinated species with limited seed dispersal. However, Bayesian analysis revealed three heterogeneous, highly differentiated (pairwise G’ ST > 0.3), and spatially localised sub-populations showing only partial overlap with the distribution of mtDNA haplotypes. Such complex structure in only 0.34 ha, resulting mainly from historical events, restrictions to gene flow and high local density, was undetected in previous work based on more traditional sampling schemes for population genetics surveys. We demonstrate the usefulness of sampling schemes leaning towards a whole-population genetic characterisation in mining the finest characteristics of FSGS, and argue that our understanding of genetic structuring in highly heterogeneous refugial regions at both macro- and micro-scales is still rather limited and often oversimplified. This has severe implications on conservation of plant biodiversity from these regions in terms of responses to global climate change.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Republic of Austria, Bioversity International, Research Grant 173005 of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia, the COST Action FP1202 and the Italian MIUR project “Biodiversitalia” (RBAP10A2T4). The authors would like to thank M. Mengl, L. Weißenbacher, M. Josipović, D. Milekić, C. Leonarduzzi, C Bondani and Milovan for assistance in the field, and N. Kuzmanović for extracting climate data. All samples were collected with the permission of the Ministry of Energy, Development and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Serbia, and support of the Tara National Park, Republic of Serbia.

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    1. Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering (IMGGE), University of Belgrade, Vojvode Stepe 444a, PO box 23, 11010, Belgrade, Serbia

      J. M. Aleksić

    2. Institute of Biosciences and BioResources (IBBR), National Research Council (CNR), Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50019, Sesto Fiorentino, FI, Italy

      A. Piotti & G. G. Vendramin

    3. Federal Research Centre for Forests, Seckendorf-Gudent-Weg 8, 1131, Vienna, Austria

      T. Geburek

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    J. M. Aleksić and A. Piotti have contributed equally to the work.

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    Aleksić, J.M., Piotti, A., Geburek, T. et al. Exploring and conserving a “microcosm”: whole-population genetic characterization within a refugial area of the endemic, relict conifer Picea omorika . Conserv Genet 18, 777–788 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-017-0926-x

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