@bes-communitysci.bsky.social

A pan‐European citizen science study shows population size, climate and land use are related to biased morph ratios in the heterostylous plant Primula veris A large-scale citizen science study involving thousands of cowslip (Primula veris) observations from all over Europe revealed an unexpected prevalence of S-morphs over L-morphs, which was influenced ...

Read also the paper about the scientific results of the campaign here ➡️ besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

👀Peek behind the scenes of our pan-European citizen science campaign "Looking for Cowslips" and read what were the communication barriers and facilitators of the initiative through the eyes of local and main coordinators.

Read the summary here ➡️ tinyurl.com/3dvwads3
and the main paper below ⬇️

Landscape genetics in plants: challenges and insights from the XX International Botanical Congress - Landscape Ecology Context Plant landscape genetics is a rapidly developing discipline that examines how habitat loss and fragmentation due to anthropogenic pressures shape plant genetic diversity, gene flow, and potential adaptation. Despite its potential, many aspects remain underexplored, limiting its effective incorporation into conservation planning. Objectives This study aims to identify current trends, challenges, and practical opportunities for applying landscape genetics in plant conservation, framed within the Madrid Declaration (XX International Botanical Congress, IBC, in Madrid, July 2024). Methods Insights were gathered from presentations and discussions held during the symposium “Across Land and Water: Understanding Plant Gene Flow at a Landscape Scale” (XX IBC), targeted literature review, and interviews with conservation practitioners. Results Findings highlight major gaps in bryophyte genetics and vector ecology. Methodological challenges include accounting for life history traits and time-lags. Landscape genetics and genomics have rarely been applied in conservation planning. Effective communication between scientists and stakeholders, increased public awareness, and user-friendly tools are crucial for translating genetic research into conservation action. Conclusions Addressing methodological challenges and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration will increase the field’s impact. Improved knowledge exchange can strengthen conservation planning, promote genetic diversity, and ecosystem resilience in human-modified landscapes.

🧬🌱 New collab paper reviews advances and challenges in applying landscape genetics to plant conservation. It highlights key gaps, especially for non-vascular plants and calls for stronger interdisciplinary collaboration and more accessible tools to bring genetic insights into practice
👉 doi.org/qkct

Really a great opportunity to introduce our research and plan collaboration.🏵️

📢 Tune in next Wednesday at 2:00 PM CET (3:00 PM EET) to hear our group leader Tsipe Aavik talk about landscape genetics of plants.🌼

This study shows that for effective conservation of plant-pollinator networks a landscape wide approach is needed and that network characteristics are likely to depend less on patch size and connectivity, but rather on functional diversity and structural heterogeneity.

These interactions contribute to the maintenance of network topologies like modularity and nestedness, even in small and isolated patches.

‼️New article in @oikosjournal.bsky.social led by our post-doc Arne Devriese used metabarcoding to identify🌼🦋 plant pollinator interactions in fragmented dune slacks along the Belgian coast, and uncovered that pollinators commonly interact with resources in the surrounding landscape.
👉 doi.org/p89v

‼️New article published in AoBP revealing how habitat loss and fragmentation affect heterostylous plants!
The study was led by Dr Marianne Kivastik from our workgroup and was part of her PhD thesis that she successfuly defended in spring.
Article 👉 doi.org/p63x
Thesis 👉 dspace.ut.ee/items/a8dd02...

Last week, we met in sunny☀️ Uppsala with our @biodiversaplus.bsky.social FuncNet project partners to discuss the work done and manuscript ideas and plan our coming fieldwork.
We also had a short trip to one of the Swedish project sites, where we found already first cowslip leaves and pollinators 🌻🐝

🌻The surprising results from the citizen science campaign led by our workgroup are now published!

Data from 5,200+ locations revealed 9% more short-styled flowers (S-morph), linked to climate change & land use. 🌍

Read more👉 ut.ee/en/news/thou...