Webbinuarium om vilda kulturväxtsläktingar 1: "The importance of genetic diversity for CWR conservation"

For practical reasons, conservation efforts are frequently focused on conserving species or particular habitats that host important species or perform central ecosystem services. However, the genetic diversity within a population is important as it allows a population to adapt to changes in its environment and therefore increases its chances of long-term survival. Evaluation and monitoring of genetic diversity should therefore be an integral part of long-term conservation.

In this lunch webinar we will talk about the importance of genetic diversity, present possible strategies and ongoing initiatives for evaluating and monitoring genetic diversity in populations of Crop Wild Relatives. In particular, we will focus on how genetic diversity can be monitored at a national level, with some examples from Sweden, and present the results of an in-depth study of genetic diversity in Nordic populations of Carum carvi.

The webinar is part of the project “Conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources in the Nordic countries”, which is a collaboration among all Nordic countries and funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers as part of the Nature-based Solutions programme. 

Speakers: Jenny Hagenblad (Linköping university), Robert Ekblom (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency).

Language: English.