Ancient Plant Genomics

Climate warming is driving range shifts and population declines in many arctic-alpine species, potentially leading to local extinctions and the loss of their genetic diversity. Preserving high levels of genetic diversity within species and populations is crucial for their ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions and to ensure long-term survival. Predicting and anticipating the effects of ongoing climate warming on plant species requires a long-term perspective on past ecosystem dynamics.

We combine paleoecological and paleogenomic approaches to investigate the impacts of past climate and human activities on mountain vegetation. Specifically, we analyze biological proxies such as ancient DNA (aDNA) preserved in plant macrofossils, pollen, and charcoal particles recovered from cave ice deposits. This enables us to track genetic diversity over time and to assess the long-term responses of mountain vegetation to environmental disturbances. Such insights improve our ability to predict how species may respond to ongoing global change and support more effective strategies to protect biodiversity from the ecosystem to the genetic level.