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Landscape genetics since 2003: status, challenges and future directions

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Abstract

A scientific symposium on landscape genetics, held at the 2013 IALE Europe Conference in Manchester UK (September 2–8, 2013), highlighted status, challenges and future avenues in the field. Key topics included analytical aspects in landscape genetics, conceptual progress and application of landscape genetics for conservation management. First, analytical aspects referred to statistical relationships between genetic and landscape data. It was suggested that linear mixed models or Bayesian approaches are particularly promising due to more appropriate and powerful ways for analyzing landscape effects on genetic variation. Second, supplementing neutral genetic variation with adaptive genetic variation is very promising. However, research needs to go beyond the identification of genomic regions under selection and provide information on the ecological function of adaptive genetic regions. Conceptually, endogenous processes (e.g., life-history attributes such as dispersal) require consideration as supplementary factors in shaping the genetic variation in addition to landscapes. Also, the temporal dimension in landscapes for both the past and the future should be given increased attention as the genetic responses to landscape change may be non-simultaneous, resulting in time lags. As for applied conservation management, landscape genetics can provide important baseline information such as basic data on species movement in a spatial context, assessments of the spatial need for management efforts, or evaluations of the effectiveness of already existing management measures.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief and two reviewers for their very helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Zürcherstrasse 111, 8903, Birmensdorf, Switzerland

    Janine Bolliger

  2. Natural History Museum, London, UK

    Tonya Lander

  3. Department of Wildlife Management, Georg-August University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

    Niko Balkenhol

Authors
  1. Janine Bolliger
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  2. Tonya Lander
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  3. Niko Balkenhol
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Correspondence to Janine Bolliger.

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Bolliger, J., Lander, T. & Balkenhol, N. Landscape genetics since 2003: status, challenges and future directions. Landscape Ecol 29, 361–366 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-013-9982-x

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