Integrating population genetics and species distribution modelling to guide conservation of the noble crayfish, Astacus astacus, in Croatia.

The noble crayfish, Astacus astacus, is an indigenous European freshwater species. Its populations show significant declines caused by anthropogenic pressure on its habitats, climate change and the spread of invasive species. Diminishing populations' trends and loss of genetic diversity highlight the need for effective conservation that will ensure their long-term survival.

Candidate gene SNP variation in floodplain populations of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) near the species' southern range margin: Weak differentiation yet distinct associations with water availability.

Populations residing near species' low-latitude range margins (LLMs) often occur in warmer and drier environments than those in the core range. Thus, their genetic composition could be shaped by climatic drivers that differ from those occurring at higher latitudes, resulting in potentially adaptive variants of conservation value. Such variants could facilitate the adaptation of populations from other portions of the geographical range to similar future conditions anticipated under ongoing climate change.

Understanding biogeographical patterns in the western Balkan Peninsula using environmental niche modelling and geostatistics in polymorphic .

The Balkan Peninsula represents one of the three southern European glacial refugia where biodiversity persisted throughout the climatically unstable Quaternary. This study considered the 'refugia within refugia' model, which assumes the environmental heterogeneity over time and space in larger refugia. To better understand patterns shaped during the Quaternary climatic oscillations, the present and last glacial maximum (LGM) environmental conditions and current morphological variability of , an endemic plant of the western Balkans with a well-known therphical structure, were considered.

Environmental heterogeneity explains the genetic structure of Continental and Mediterranean populations of Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl.

Tree species with wide distributions often exhibit different levels of genetic structuring correlated to their environment. However, understanding how environmental heterogeneity influences genetic variation is difficult because the effects of gene flow, drift and selection are confounded. We investigated the genetic variation and its ecological correlates in a wind-pollinated Mediterranean tree species, Fraxinus angustifolia Vahl, within a recognised glacial refugium in Croatia.