About the project
The boreal forest landscape in Fennoscandia has undergone dramatic changes during the last 150 years, as intensive forest management and short rotation times have led to the loss and fragmentation of natural forests which in turn resulted in biodiversity decline. Natural forests have become few and fragmented, and their distribution across Fennoscandia is scattered and unbalanced. This transformation has led to a decline in species and populations restricted to natural-like forests. The loss of species is well studied, however, much less is known about how forest loss and fragmentation have affected genetic variation within species. Within-species genetic diversity represents a more basic diversity component. It is important to be aware of whether populations are losing genetic variation and at which rate.
Objectives
Sub-projects
The project is organised in 4 main sub-projects:
-
Spatiotemporal distribution of genetic variation across Fennoscandia
-
Genetic variation in isolated versus well-connected forests
-
Aerial fungal diversity in isolated versus well-connected forests
-
Restoration of fungal populations in fragmented landscapes
Outcomes
Researcher
Sundy Maurice is the researcher in charge of FunGen.
Financing
Research Council of Norway (RCN) 2016-2019
Cooperation
By liaising researchers from Norway and Sweden and gathering data at a Fennoscandian scale, this project will greatly facilitate knowledge transfer within Scandinavia and also open the horizon for setting up new collaborations which will promote the 2020 vision of the European Research Area.
- Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA): Dr. Jenni Nordén and Dr. Megan Nowell
- Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO): Dr. Einar Heegaard
- Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU): Tord Snäll and Lars Ostlund
Tools
RAD sequencing, Whole genome sequencing, polypore, Demography analysis, Coalescent theory