2017

Lindsay F Banin (UKCEH)

Intra- and interspecific leaf trait variation, decomposition processes and the ‘home-field advantage’ in European woodlands

In collaboration with Stephen Cavers (also at CEH), Emma Sayer (Lancaster University), and intensive study site coordinators, Jan Kowalczyk (Blizyn), Egbert Beuker (Punkaharju) and Martina Peter (Valais), Lindsay developed a project to examine the effects of inter- and intra-specific leaf trait variation on decomposition processes.

The project utilises three geographically separated and climatically distinct, unmanaged forest sites where trees may have become locally adapted to environmental conditions. This means that even trees belonging to the same species may be expressing differences in functional traits.

Typically, research has focused on inter-specific variation in plant traits causing differences in rates of decomposition and belowground processes. Here, we specifically want to test whether similar differences occur within species too.

The project will also test for ‘home-field advantage’; i.e., that decomposition is more efficient for individuals and species on their home soil due to conditioning of soil microbial communities to ‘native’ leaf litter.

The EVOLTREE network provides an excellent springboard for this research through the knowledge of the tree species distributions within each ISS. The research team hope that this new collaboration will establish a new science direction for the network and the project also aims to train junior scientists in assessing plant-soil interactions.

José Alberto Ramírez-Valiente(INIA)

Understanding the factors driving species diversification in the roburoid oak complex

This project aimed to elucidate the roles of sympatric and allopatric speciation on species divergence in the 'roburoid' oaks.

'Roburoid oaks' refers to a set of nine closely related species (Q. robur, Q. petraea, Q. canariensis, Q. pubescens, Q. faginea, Q. fruticosa, Q. pyrenaica, Q. macranthera and Q. infectoria) distributed in western Eurasia and northern Africa.

Different evolutionary factors such as vicariance, ecological adaptation and hybridization have been proposed as the main mechanisms shaping patterns of genetic structure and genetic differentiation among these species.

Using a multidisciplinary approach by conducting a phenotypic characterisation under common garden conditions together with genomic analyses using RADseq and niche modeling, this project will shed light on the phylogenetic relationships within this group of closely related species and will contribute to understand the evolutionary factors promoting speciation and intraspecific differentiation in oaks.