Evaluation of the present genetic conservation efforts in Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, Quercus spp., Fagus sylvatica, and Pinus pinaster: Deliverable D1.3

Information on genetic diversity and gene conservation activities were combined with climatic data to evaluate the present genetic conservation efforts in Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, Quercus spp., Fagus sylvatica, and Pinus pinaster. Combinations of climatic variables explained much of the variance of genetic diversity (GD). However, these variables most likely do not causally explain the distribution of GD, as that is shaped by the northward colonisation since the ice ages from relict population in the south of Europe Present efforts in gene conservation could be improved by focussing on environmental coverage, e.g., on gene conservation in populations of hot, dry and marginal environments, and obtaining more information on patterns of adaptive variation