Tailoring conservation to suit Serbian spruce

Mediterranean forest tree species are particularly sensitive to the global climate warming, and two Mediterranean conifers, Sicilian fir and Serbian spruce, stand out as currently the most threatened ones due to their extremely narrow distribution range. Both species are IUCN-red listed and protected by the law. Conservation of Serbian spruce (Picea omorica) was initiated in 1955, when a rigid conservation strategy was applied, without any intervention allowed in c. 30 remnant populations scattered within an area of c. 200 km2 in the Western Balkans. Such a strategy, implemented without any genetic knowledge on the species, remained to the present days, and the only advancement regarding Serbian spruce conservation over the past 15 years refers to the inclusion of seven populations (four natural populations and three planted stands) into the pan-European network of genetic conservation units (GCUs) for the dynamic conservation of forest genetic resources. In the meanwhile, a drought-induced physiological weakening of Serbian spruce trees followed by infestation of Armillaria ostoyae and, in turn, a rapid dieback of trees has been observed, suggesting that Serbian spruce is losing the race against climate warming. However, at the same time, genetic knowledge on the species improved significantly. Whole-population genetic characterizations provided in-depth understanding of within-population genetic patterns and genetic changes in natural regeneration following disturbances. Therefore, the conditions for geneticallyinformed conservation and, eventually, species genetic rescue have been met, and a ten-year program, worth 10 million EUR and comprising ten work packages, has been formulated and will be presented.Genomics and Adaptation in Forest Ecosystems. Book of Abstracts. EvolTree Conference 2021, 14 – 17 September 2021, Birmensdorf, Switzerlan