Objective
Larch trees (Larix) are one of the main components of Eurasian and North American high latitudes and altitude forests. In the present project, three basic questions on the evolutionary history of this complex of species will be addressed. First, the phylogenetic relationship among closely related North Eurasian species L. deciduas, L. sibirica, L. gmelinii, L. olgensis, L. kaempferi and L. principis-rupprechtii will be assessed. Second, the importance of hybridisation in the wild will be quantified. Third, the within species phylogeography in L. sibirica will be studied in order to infer the main recolonization routes and glacial refugia. Special attention will be paid to Siberian rivers as putative recolonization routes. Different molecular markers will be used to answer those questions: DNA sequences and PCR-RFLP for phylogeny, PCR-RFLP and chloroplast micro satellites for hybridisation and within species phylogeography. The investigation demands the development of the new mitochondrial markers. The results of the project will contribute to a better understanding of the history of the forest boreal vegetation in Northern Eurasia on different time scales: phylogeny gives access to events that occurred during the Pliocene-Pleistocene, within species phylogeography concerns population movements around and after the last maximum glacial, while the study of hybridisation between L. sibirica and L. gmelinii provides us with a view on how species interact, are maintained or created.
Studying these three aspects of Larix history is a prerequisite to the establishment of an appropriate programme of conservation of Larix genetic resources.
Topic(s)
Call for proposal
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75236 Uppsala
Sweden