Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2025
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V21
Höfundar / Authors: Heli Fitzgerald 1, Mora Aronsson 2, Magnus Göransson 3, Anna Palmé 4.
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. Finnish Museum of Natural History, LUOMUS, University of Helsinki 2. Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences 3. Natural Science Institute of Iceland, 4. Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen).
Kynnir / Presenter: Magnus Göransson
Crop wild relatives (CWR) are wild species closely related to crops. They contain essential diversity for crop improvement, e.g. for disease resistance and adaptation to climate change. For this reason, they play an important role in food security by contributing to adaptation of agriculture to future challenges. The study includes results from species distribution modelling of 84 CWR plant taxa under two climate scenarios by 2100, with an estimated warming of approximately 2.7°C and 4.4°C by the end of the century, respectively. The results of distribution modelling indicate that even moderate climate change will significantly reduce the range of many plant species and cause a general shift in distributions northwards and to higher altitudes. There is a large variation among the species, but overall, the threatened species and northern/mountain species are most negatively affected, while species in disturbed/urban areas are less so. The study highlights the need for targeted conservation efforts. In situ conservation, including active management and monitoring of key populations, is recommended for all prioritised Nordic CWR taxa. Given the variability in species responses to climate change, some taxa will require ex situ collection to preserve their genetic diversity, while others may remain viable in their natural habitats. Ongoing monitoring is critical to detect early signs of population decline or diversity loss, thus enabling adaptive conservation strategies.