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Airborne pollen surveys provide information on various aspects of biodiversity and human health monitoring. Such surveys are typically conducted using the Burkard Multi-Vial Cyclone Sampler, but have to be technically optimized for eDNA barcoding. We here developed and tested a new airborne pollen trap, especially suitable for autonomous eDNA-metabarcoding analyses, called the A1 volumetric air sampler. The trap can sample pollen in 24 different tubes with flexible intervals, allowing it to operate independently in the field for a certain amount of time. We compared the efficiency of the new A1 volumetric air sampler with another automated volumetric spore trap, the Burkard Multi-Vial Cyclone Sampler, which features shorter and fewer sampling intervals to evaluate the comparability of ambient pollen concentrations. In a sterile laboratory environment, we compared trap performances between the automated volumetric air samplers by using pure dry pollen of three species—Fagus sylvatica, Helianthus annuus and Zea mays—which differ both by exine ornamentation and pollen size. The traps had a standard suction flow rate of 16.5 L/min, and we counted the inhaled pollen microscopically after a predefined time interval. Our results showed that though we put three different pollen types in the same container, both the traps inhaled all the pollens in a statistically significant manner irrespective of their size. We found that, on average, both traps inhaled equal an number of pollens for each species. We did not detect any cross-contamination between tubes. We concluded that the A1 volumetric air sampler has the potential to be used for longer and more flexible sampling intervals in the wild, suitable for autonomous monitoring of eDNA pollen diversity.

In recent years, the decline of insect biodiversity and the imminent loss of provided ecosystem functions and services has received public attention and raised the demand for political action. The complex, multi-causal contributors to insect decline require a broad interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach that addresses ecological and social aspects to find sustainable solutions. The project Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas (DINA) assesses insect communities in 21 nature reserves in Germany, and considers interactions with plant diversity, pesticide exposure, spatial and climatic factors. The nature reserves border on agricultural land, to investigate impacts on insect diversity. Part of the project is to obtain scientific data from Malaise traps and their surroundings, while another part involves relevant stakeholders to identify opportunities and obstacles to insect diversity conservation. Our results indicate a positive association between insect richness and biomass. Insect richness was negatively related to the number of stationary pesticides (soil and vegetation), pesticides measured in ethanol, the amount of area in agricultural production, and precipitation. Our qualitative survey along with stakeholder interviews show that there is general support for insect conservation, while at the same time the stakeholders expressed the need for more information and data on insect biodiversity, as well as flexible policy options. We conclude that conservation management for insects in protected areas should consider a wider landscape. Local targets of conservation management will have to integrate different stakeholder perspectives. Scientifically informed stakeholder dialogues can mediate conflicts of interests, knowledge, and values to develop mutual conservation scenarios.

Ex situ cultivation is important for plant conservation, but cultivation in small populations may result in genetic changes by drift, inbreeding, or unconscious selection. Repeated inbreeding potentially influences not only plant fitness, but also floral traits and interactions with pollinators, which has not yet been studied in an ex situ context.We studied the molecular genetic variation of Digitalis lutea from a botanic garden population cultivated for 30 years, a frozen seed bank conserving the original genetic structure, and two current wild populations including the source population. In a common garden, we studied the effects of experimental inbreeding and between-population crosses on performance, reproductive traits, and flower visitation of plants from the garden and a wild population.Significant genetic differentiation was found between the garden population and the wild population from which the seeds had originally been gathered. After experimental selfing, inbreeding depression was only found for germination and leaf size of plants from the wild population, indicating a history of inbreeding in the smaller garden population. Moreover, garden plants flowered earlier and had floral traits related to selfing, whereas wild plants had traits related to attracting pollinators. Bumblebees visited more flowers of outbred than inbred plants and of wild than garden plants.Our case study suggests that high levels of inbreeding during ex situ cultivation can influence reproductive traits and thus interactions with pollinators. Together with the effects of genetic erosion and unconscious selection, these changes may affect the success of reintroductions into natural habitats.

Biodiversity monitoring is an important tool to document rapid ecosystem changes and on-going species loss by collecting high-resolution biodiversity data over long periods of time. Large-scale monitoring provides long-range information on species occurrence, interactions, and migrations. In the German project "Automated Multisensor Stations for Monitoring of BioDiversity" (AMMOD, https://ammod.de/), field stations equipped with different sensors (e.g. acoustic sensors, camera traps, volatile organic compound sensors, pollen and insect traps) are being developed that can be operated largely autonomously. These stations provide continuous data on the occurrence of birds, bats, mammals, insects and plants and associated environmental parameters. Besides the autonomous operation of the stations, a challenge is to master the different requirements that the wide range of sensors bring with them (cf. Wägele et al. 2022). In addition to the detection of fauna and flora by means of sounds, images, films and smells, samples are also collected in malaise and pollen traps with automatically rotating multi samplers. The mixed samples are processed in the laboratory using metabarcoding methods and the resulting sequence data bioinformatically processed into amplicon sequence variants (ASV, Callahan et al. 2017). Unlike data from acoustic sensors or camera traps, which can flow and be analyzed almost entirely automatically, metabarcoding requires a labor-intensive intermediate step in the laboratories at the University of Kassel (pollen) and the LIB (insects). In addition, metabarcoding requires good (preferably local) barcode reference databases, like Barcode Of Life Data system (BOLD) and the German Barcode of Life library (GBOL); long-term data storage for raw and processed data; reliable retrieval of ASV sequences; and versioning of supercharged data through dynamic assignment during taxon annotation. Here, we present the pipeline for acquisition, intersection, management, storage and publication of data from metabarcoding derived from bulk insect and pollen samples. The metabarcoding data pipeline is connected to the overall data flow developed in the AMMOD project (Wägele et al. 2022, Fig. 12) and ultimately delivers processed taxon tables with linked information to the raw sequences published, methods used and other sources of information to the upcoming NFDI4Biodiversity Research Data Commons (RDC, https://www.nfdi4biodiversity.org, Glöckner et al. 2020) using the AMMOD data broker. Raw sequences (i.e., FASTQ files, sampling and laboratory metadata) will be stored and published the in the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (GenBank or ENA) using the data flows from the German Federation for Biological Data (GFBio, https://gfbio.org) as proxy. The three data sources for the AMMOD metabarcoding data pipeline are derived from the multisampler with connected malaise or spore traps plus environmental data loggers. Bioinformatic analysis and generation of ASVs is provided by the users, using their own pipelines. For storage, publication and transmission of results to the NFDI4Biodiversity RDC, an ASV table registry is provided along with the possibility of uploading log files, laboratory protocols and collection tables. In the ASV registry, the uploaded tables are taxonomically annotated through the connected reference databases and stored as versioned datasets. The processed and annotated datasets are transmitted to the AMMOD broker in a standardized format as JSON datasets. Connection of the components: an identifier, which uniquely identifies the data from the respective components of field stations and laboratories, is the prerequisite for the unique assignment of data parts. This AMMOD ID consists of the project name, the case number, the sensor type, a time stamp with the number of the sample and the bottle or plate number. For example, the ID AMMOD-T1-M-R210511-B1 denotes a sample of the AMMOD project from trap 1 of type Malaise dated May 11, 2021 from the first bottle. All bottles and data entries from the laboratory, log files and subsequent processes are provided with such an ID. The orchestra of different components was built under the aspect of sustainable software development and compatibility to existing systems such as the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB) Biobank and the LIB Digital Collection Catalog. All developed software is published at: https://gitlab.leibniz-lib.de/AMMOD/ and https://gitlab.leibniz-lib.de/GBOL/asv-table-registry The portal for ASV registration and upload is available on: https://bolgermany.de/metabarcoding

Insect declines and biodiversity loss have attracted much attention in recent years, but lack of comprehensive data, conflicting interests among stakeholders and insufficient policy guidance hinder progress in preserving biodiversity. The project DINA (Diversity of Insects in Nature protected Areas) investigates insect communities in 21 nature reserves in Germany. All selected conservation sites border arable land, with agricultural practices assumed to influence insect populations. We taught citizen scientists how to manage Malaise traps for insect collection, and subsequently used a DNA metabarcoding approach for species identification. Vegetation surveys, plant metabarcoding as well as geospatial and ecotoxicological analyses will help to unravel contributing factors for the deterioration of insect communities. As a pioneering research project in this field, DINA includes a transdisciplinary dialogue involving relevant stakeholders such as local authorities, policymakers, and farmers, which aims at a shared understanding of conservation goals and action pathways. Stakeholder engagement combined with scientific results will support the development of sound policy recommendations to improve legal frameworks, landscape planning, land use, and conservation strategies. With this transdisciplinary approach, we aim to provide the background knowledge to implement policy strategies that will halt further decline of insects in German protected areas.

Societal Impact Statement Pollen relates to many aspects of human and environmental health, which protection and improvement are endorsed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. By highlighting these connections in the frame of current challenges in monitoring and research, we discuss the need of more integrative and multidisciplinary pollen research related to societal needs, improving health of humans and our ecosystems for a sustainable future. Summary Pollen is at once intimately part of the reproductive cycle of seed plants and simultaneously highly relevant for the environment (pollinators, vector for nutrients, or organisms), people (food safety and health), and climate (cloud condensation nuclei and climate reconstruction). We provide an interdisciplinary perspective on the many and connected roles of pollen to foster a better integration of the currently disparate fields of pollen research, which would benefit from the sharing of general knowledge, technical advancements, or data processing solutions. We propose a more interdisciplinary and holistic research approach that encompasses total environmental pollen diversity (ePD) (wind and animal and occasionally water distributed pollen) at multiple levels of diversity (genotypic, phenotypic, physiological, chemical, and functional) across space and time. This interdisciplinary approach holds the potential to contribute to pressing human issues, including addressing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, fostering social and political awareness of these tiny yet important and fascinating particles.

The declines observed in insect abundance and diversity in the past decades has also been observed in plants, and these events are most certainly correlated. Rapid largescale biomonitoring of both plants and insects can help monitor these changes and inform decisions for land management and species protection. Malaise traps have been used for nearly 80 years for passive insect sampling of primarily flying insects, and when they enter these traps, they carry the fragments of the plants they have visited, either as plant fragments and pollen on the body surface, or as digested food material in gut contents. DNA metabarcoding is a potential method to identify these plant traces in the ethanol of the malaise bottles, which is not possible with traditional microscopy. Metabarcoding could offer more insight into what plants insects are directly interacting with at a given time, and allow for the detection of rare plants, and neophyte species visited by insects. This study, to our knowledge, is the first examination of DNA metabarcoding plant traces from Malaise trap samples, we examine 105 samples from 21 sites throughout Germany collected in a 2-week period in May of 2020. Here we report on the feasibility of sequencing these sample types, analysis of the resulting taxa, the usage of cultivated plants by insects near nature conservancy areas, and the detection of rare and neophyte species.

The important worldwide forage crop red clover (Trifolium pratenseL.) is widely cultivated as cattle feed and for soil improvement. Wild populations and landraces have great natural diversity that could be used to improve cultivated red clover. However, to date, there is still insufficient knowledge about the natural genetic and phenotypic diversity of the species. Here, we developed a low-cost transcriptome analysis (mRNA-GBS) with reduced complexity and compared the results with population genetic (GBS) and previously published mRNA-Seq data, to assess whether analysis of intraspecific variation within and between populations and transcriptome responses is possible simultaneously. The mRNA-GBS approach was successful. SNP analyses from the mRNA-GBS approach revealed comparable patterns to the GBS results, but it was not possible to link transcriptome analyses with reduced complexity and sequencing depth to previously published greenhouse and field expression studies. The use of short sequences upstream of the poly(A) tail of mRNA to reduce complexity are promising approaches that combine population genetics and expression profiling to analyze many individuals with trait differences simultaneously and cost-effectively, even in non-model species. Our mRNA-GBS approach revealed too many additional short mRNA sequences, hampering sequence alignment depth and SNP recovery. Optimizations are being discussed. Nevertheless, our study design across different regions in Germany was also challenging as the use of differential expression analyses with reduced complexity, in which mRNA is fragmented at specific sites rather than randomly, is most likely counteracted under natural conditions by highly complex plant reactions at low sequencing depth.

The unprecedented ongoing biodiversity decline necessitates scalable means of monitoring in order to fully understand the underlying causes. DNA metabarcoding has the potential to provide a powerful tool for accurate and rapid biodiversity monitoring. Unfortunately, in many cases, a lack of universal standards undermines the widespread application of metabarcoding. One of the most important considerations in metabarcoding of plants, aside from selecting a potent barcode marker, is primer choice. Our study evaluates published ITS primers in silico and in vitro, through mock communities and presents newly designed primers. We were able to show that a large proportion of previously available ITS primers have unfavourable attributes. Our combined results support the recommendation of the introduced primers ITS-3p62plF1 and ITS-4unR1 as the best current universal plant specific ITS2 primer combination. We also found that PCR optimisation, such as the addition of 5% DMSO, is essential to obtain meaningful results in ITS2 metabarcoding. Finally, we conclude that continuous quality assurance is indispensable for reliable metabarcoding results.

Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. is an economically important tree crop that is widely cultivated in Uganda for its fruit. Despite its economic importance, little is known about the genetic diversity of jackfruit in the country. This puts the crop’s genetic resource at risk as farmers selectively grow varieties based on market demand. The study analyzed the genetic diversity of A. heterophyllus trees from 12 districts belonging to three agro-ecological zones and three political regions of Uganda. Ten SSR loci were used to assess the genetic relationship among 200 trees, 197 from Uganda and 3 out-group individuals. All SSR loci were polymorphic with an average of 10.9 alleles per locus. STRUCTURE analysis proposed two genetic clusters: Cluster 1 was composed of samples from Eastern and neighboring Central districts, and Cluster 2 which constituted out-groups and samples from Western and neighboring Central districts. Results of STRUCTURE analysis were confirmed by PCoA. Mbarara District exhibited the highest genetic diversity (He = 0.79, I = 1.71), while Kamuli (He = 0.61, I = 1.08 and Pallisa (He = 0.59, I = 1.12) displayed the lowest genetic diversity despite high abundances of jackfruit trees. Molecular variation was higher within populations than among populations. Moderate and significant genetic differentiation was registered among geographical zones, while varietal differences displayed little insignificant genetic differentiation. Soft and white pulped varieties, considered inferior on the market, harbored private alleles which may be genetically valuable resources. Therefore, sustainable utilization and conservation efforts of the jackfruit genetic resource should consider preserving inferior varieties for future crop improvement.

Natural history collections are leading successful large-scale projects of specimen digitization (images, metadata, DNA barcodes), thereby transforming taxonomy into a big data science. Yet, little effort has been directed towards safeguarding and subsequently mobilizing the considerable amount of original data generated during the process of naming 15,000–20,000 species every year. From the perspective of alpha-taxonomists, we provide a review of the properties and diversity of taxonomic data, assess their volume and use, and establish criteria for optimizing data repositories. We surveyed 4113 alpha-taxonomic studies in representative journals for 2002, 2010, and 2018, and found an increasing yet comparatively limited use of molecular data in species diagnosis and description. In 2018, of the 2661 papers published in specialized taxonomic journals, molecular data were widely used in mycology (94%), regularly in vertebrates (53%), but rarely in botany (15%) and entomology (10%). Images play an important role in taxonomic research on all taxa, with photographs used in >80% and drawings in 58% of the surveyed papers. The use of omics (high-throughput) approaches or 3D documentation is still rare. Improved archiving strategies for metabarcoding consensus reads, genome and transcriptome assemblies, and chemical and metabolomic data could help to mobilize the wealth of high-throughput data for alpha-taxonomy. Because long-term—ideally perpetual—data storage is of particular importance for taxonomy, energy footprint reduction via less storage-demanding formats is a priority if their information content suffices for the purpose of taxonomic studies. Whereas taxonomic assignments are quasifacts for most biological disciplines, they remain hypotheses pertaining to evolutionary relatedness of individuals for alpha-taxonomy. For this reason, an improved reuse of taxonomic data, including machine-learning-based species identification and delimitation pipelines, requires a cyberspecimen approach—linking data via unique specimen identifiers, and thereby making them findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable for taxonomic research. This poses both qualitative challenges to adapt the existing infrastructure of data centers to a specimen-centered concept and quantitative challenges to host and connect an estimated \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{upgreek} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} }{}$ \le $\end{document}2 million images produced per year by alpha-taxonomic studies, plus many millions of images from digitization campaigns. Of the 30,000–40,000 taxonomists globally, many are thought to be nonprofessionals, and capturing the data for online storage and reuse therefore requires low-complexity submission workflows and cost-free repository use. Expert taxonomists are the main stakeholders able to identify and formalize the needs of the discipline; their expertise is needed to implement the envisioned virtual collections of cyberspecimens. [Big data; cyberspecimen; new species; omics; repositories; specimen identifier; taxonomy; taxonomic data.]

The problem of low species-level identification rates in plants by DNA barcoding is exacerbated by the fact that reference databases are far from being comprehensive. We investigate the impact of increased sampling depth on identification success by analyzing the efficacy of established plant barcode marker sequences (rbcL, matK, trnL-trnF, psbA-trnH, ITS). Adding sequences of the same species to the reference database led to an increase in correct species assignment of +10.9% for rbcL and +19.0% for ITS. Simultaneously, erroneous identification dropped from ∼40% to ∼12.5%. Despite its evolutionary constraints, ITS showed the highest identification rate and identification gain by increased sampling effort, which makes it a very suitable marker in the planning phase of a barcode study. The limited sequence availability of trnL-trnF is problematic for an otherwise very promising plastid plant barcoding marker. Future developments in machine learning algorithms have the potential to give new impetus to plant barcoding, but are dependent on extensive reference databases. We expect that our results will be incorporated into future plans for the development of DNA barcoding reference databases and will lead to these being developed with greater depth and taxonomic coverage.

The recovery of altered or damaged ecosystems demands large-scale reintroductions of seeds. In the past, ecological restoration in Germany was carried out with non-local seeds of naturally occurring species. We here analysed whether the genetic pattern of the introduced non-local seeds (R = restored) of Pimpinella saxifraga are still detectable several years after application and whether the phenotype differs from that of the regional gene pool (I = indigenous) of the species. We collected material from individuals of R and I sites, conducted a common garden experiment and tested for genetic, morphological and phenotypic differences. In a cutting experiment we investigate treatment effects on indigenous and restored populations. At all investigated sites we only found P. saxifraga individuals with comparatively similar genome sizes. The population genetic analysis revealed two large and quite distinct molecular clusters, separating indigenous and restored individuals along the first axis. None of the vegetative, but two of the reproductive fitness parameters differed between individuals of the R and I sites. Cutting always had a significant influence on all analysed vegetative and reproductive fitness parameters, regardless of the individuals' origin. The effects of mowing always mask origin-specific characteristics, which then disappear. Genotypic coexistence reduces the availability of niches for the local genotype and may eventually lead to genotypic competition or introgression. We therefore recommend not to use non-local genotypes of this species in the region. Instead, we recommend using the genetically diverse local genotypes of P. saxifraga for restoration purposes.

The ability to rapidly generate and share molecular, visual, and acoustic data, and to compare them with existing information, and thereby to detect and name biological entities is fundamentally changing our understanding of evolutionary relationships among organisms and is also impacting taxonomy. Harnessing taxonomic data for rapid, automated species identification by machine learning tools or DNA metabarcoding techniques has great potential but will require their review, accessible storage, comprehensive comparison, and integration with prior knowledge and information. Currently, data production, management, and sharing in taxonomic studies are not keeping pace with these needs. Indeed, a survey of recent taxonomic publications provides evidence that few species descriptions in zoology and botany incorporate DNA sequence data. The use of modern high-throughput (-omics) data is so far the exception in alpha-taxonomy, although they are easily stored in GenBank and similar databases. By contrast, for the more routinely used image data, the problem is that they are rarely made available in openly accessible repositories. Improved sharing and re-using of both types of data requires institutions that maintain long-term data storage and capacity with workable, user-friendly but highly automated pipelines. Top priority should be given to standardization and pipeline development for the easy submission and storage of machine-readable data (e.g., images, audio files, videos, tables of measurements). The taxonomic community in Germany and the German Federation for Biological Data are researching options for a higher level of automation, improved linking among data submission and storage platforms, and for making existing taxonomic information more readily accessible.

Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott originated from the American tropics. Domestication may have occurred in various places as this Araceae species is an important food source. It has been cultivated for many decades. In this study, Amplified Fragments Length Polymorphism (AFLP) markers were used to analyze the genetic relationships among 78 Ethiopian X. sagittifolium accessions, for conservation purpose. Cormels were collected from Bench-Maji, Kefa, Dawuro and Wolaita zones, representing four populations. The accessions belonged to either green (G) or purple (P) colored leaf and petiole accessions. Three different AFLP primer combinations resulted in 478 scorable bands, of which 99.2% were polymorphic. The mean Nei’s gene diversity (He) within populations was 0.35 while the G accessions featured higher He (0.38) than the P ones (0.35). The Nei’s gene diversity (He) at entire collection level was 0.38. The detected high genetic diversity may indicate the X. sagittifolium plants growing in the country may derive from diverse parental genotype stock elsewhere and/or there may be multiple introductions to the country. Low levels of genetic differentiation were detected among populations (Gst = 0.07) and between the G and P accessions (Gst = 0.02). Insignificant genetic and geographic correlation was revealed by Mantel test. Clustering analysis grouped 91% of the accessions together. Conservation and management of X. sagittifolium in the country should concentrate on maintaining high level genetic diversity within each population as well as at entire collection level through both ex situ and in situ conservation actions.

To counter species loss living ex situ collections in botanic gardens became important elements of robust conservation programs. Several limitations, problems, and risks associated with living ex situ collections have been reported such as appropriate cultivation management to maintain genetic diversity and stochastic effects in small isolated populations in artificial habitats. However, not all small and isolated populations exhibit these predicted genetic changes. In a multi-species in situ/ex situ comparison of sand dune steppe- and grassland vegetation >30 years after the ex situ population establishment, we compared four different species’ population genetic diversities (Alyssum montanum ssp. gmelinii, Gypsophila fastigiata, Helianthemum nummularium ssp. obscurum, Onosma arenaria) by means of ISSR. We observed different species-specific genetic responses to quite similar abiotic selective forces concerning different neutral genetic diversities of wild versus botanic garden populations. The genetic divergence was kept relatively low in two of the four investigated species between the model steppe plant community within the botanic garden where human interference was kept at a minimum and the wild population. However, the moderate genetic divergence of the two other species kept under the same conditions highlights the importance of species-specific intrinsic responses and stochastic effects to ecosystem changes and provides data on population genetic dynamics in small and isolated populations. This contributes to further improve recommendations on how to best conserve endangered plant species in ex situ environments (cultivation in near nature-like replicas of the original site with as little human inference as possible over only certain periods of time, >30 years).

In Seefeld, Austria, Leontodon ˣ grassiorum Zidorn, a new Leontodon s.str. (Asteraceae, Cichorieae) hybrid was discovered. The new nothospecies is a hybrid between an Azorean endemic Leontodon species, commercially available as an ornamental plant, the recently described Leontodon hochstetteri M.Moura et L.Silva, and the most common Leontodon s.str. species in Austria, L. hispidus L. The origin of the new hybrid is discussed as well as the proper naming of its Azorean parent established. The new hybrid was morphologically and phytochemically characterised. Moreover, DNA-samples were analysed and discussed in the context of hybridization. The observed patterns are discussed with special emphasis on the importance of chemical markers in the discovery and characterisation of hybrids.

Molecular data (rbcL and 18S) of 36 Planothidium strains were analysed. Twenty-seven strains were also studied morphologically by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy: six strains from Berlin, two strains from the Faroe Islands, four strains from Lake Baikal, seven strains from Korea and eight strains from Mexico. The findings were compared to International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration data of strains from New Zealand, Germany, France and the USA. The molecular and morphological data differentiated eight species, and the molecular trees underlined the clear differentiation between the two clades, with taxa possessing an asymmetrical central area on the sternum valve which is devoid of striae, either in the form of a sinus or of a cavum clustering together, versus the one taxon lacking a sinus or a cavum. In addition to Planothidium lanceolatum and P. cf. subantarcticum, the clade with a sinus contains two new species, P. cryptolanceolatum and P. taeansa, whereas the other clade ...

Summary DNA barcoding and meta-barcoding have become irreplaceable in research and applications, where identification of taxa alone or within a mixture, respectively, becomes relevant. Pioneering studies were in the microbiological context, yet nowadays also plants and animals become targeted. Given the variety of markers used, formatting requirements for classifiers and constant growth of primary databases, there is a need for dedicated reference database creation. We developed a web and command-line interface to generate such on-the-fly for any applicable marker and taxonomic group with optional filtering, formatting and restriction specific for (meta-)barcoding purposes. Also, databases optionally receive a DOI, making them well-documented with meta-data, publicly sharable and citable. Availability and implementation source code: https://www.github.com/molbiodiv/bcdatabaser, webservice: https://bcdatabaser.molecular.eco, documentation: https://molbiodiv.github.io/bcdatabaser.

We analyzed the population genetic pattern of 12 fragmented Geropogon hybridus ecological range edge populations in Israel along a steep precipitation gradient. In the investigation area (45 x 20 km(2)), the annual mean precipitation changes rapidly from 450 mm in the north (Mediterranean-influenced climate zone) to 300 mm in the south (semiarid climate zone) without significant temperature changes. Our analysis (91 individuals, 12 populations, 123 polymorphic loci) revealed strongly structured populations (AMOVA I broken vertical bar(ST) = 0.35; P < 0.001); however, differentiation did not change gradually toward range edge. IBD was significant (Mantel test r = 0.81; P = 0.001) and derived from sharply divided groups between the northernmost populations and the others further south, due to dispersal or environmental limitations. This was corroborated by the PCA and STRUCTURE analyses. IBD and IBE were significant despite the micro-geographic scale of the study area, which indicates that reduced precipitation toward range edge leads to population genetic divergence. However, this pattern diminished when the hypothesized gene flow barrier was taken into account. Applying the spatial analysis method revealed 11 outlier loci that were correlated to annual precipitation and, moreover, were indicative for putative precipitation-related adaptation (BAYESCAN, MCHEZA). The results suggest that even on micro-geographic scales, environmental factors play prominent roles in population divergence, genetic drift, and directional selection. The pattern is typical for strong environmental gradients, e.g., at species range edges and ecological limits, and if gene flow barriers and mosaic-like structures of fragmented habitats hamper dispersal.

We analysed pappus characters in 31 of the c. 34 accepted Leontopodium spp. (edelweiss). Micromorphological pappus character states were useful for discriminating between individual species and intrageneric groups. The pappus differs in number, length, breadth, surface structure, colour and the tips of the bristles. Several features characterize single species, for example a unique fan-like tip that is only found in L. franchetii. Leontopodium section Nobilia is supported by unusual pappus characters. Experimental evidence shows that the pappus of Leontopodium, previously thought to be caducous, is well suited for wind dispersal of the fruit. One clear trend is that species growing in sparsely vegetated, high-altitude regions often have more numerous and longer pappus bristles, particularly on the female flowers.

This is the first population genomic analysis that examines micro-evolutionary changes in co-occurring plant species, in fragmented habitats, along a precipitation gradient. We applied Genotype-by-Sequencing (GBS) on three different annual Asteraceae on the same sites that share similar life history strategies, but different pollination and dispersal strategies (Catananche lutea, Geropogon hybridus, Urospermum picroides). We tested if the genetic diversity for all species correlates with effective population sizes along the precipitation gradient and whether therefore genetic drift drives evolution at range edges. However, our results support this hypothesis for only one species (C. lutea) but refute it for the other two. Potential genomic signals of adaptation to the high precipitation gradient were found only in one species (U. picroides). We also tested if species with complex pollination and diversified dispersal strategies are less affected by small scale habitat fragmentation, but the opposite is true. Biological differences between the species studied (pollination and dispersal) explain population genetic differences along the precipitation gradient at range edges rather than environmental filters. Pairwise correlation analyses showed no or only weak similarities in the accumulation of mutations in the different species. Our results suggest that the processes driving evolution in different co-occurring species are different, so that most genomic similarities in our investigations may only represent temporary stages in evolution.

Die Vorfahren der hoheren Pflanzen lebten im Wasser. Dadurch konnten die Organe nicht oder nur wenig differenziert sein, und sie benotigten keine komplexen Leitgefasstrukturen (Abschn. 3.1). Deshalb bezeichnet man die basalen Gruppen der Plantae auch als Thalluspflanzen, die aufgrund ihres hohen Alters zum Teil sehr vielfaltig und vielgestaltig sind.

Die Erde entstand vor ca. 4,5 Mrd. Jahren. Erste Lebewesen entwickelten sich aus unbelebter Materie (chemische Evolution; Kasten 2.1). Durch die Entwicklung von Vererbungsmechanismen entstand die biologische Evolution. Erste Organismen waren autotrophe Prokaryoten (Kasten 2.2), die mit ihren Merkmalen vorgestellt werden.

Die Erde entstand vor 4,5 Mrd. Jahren, alteste Spuren organismischen Lebens sind rund 3,8–2,6 Mrd. Jahre alt. Die plattentektonischen und klimatischen Einflusse uber verschiedene Erdzeitalter hinweg werden in einem pflanzenevolutionaren Zusammenhang vorgestellt (Abschn. 8.1). Auserdem wird die Frage, ob wir im Zeitalter des 6. Massensterbens leben, erortert (Kasten 8.1).

Lernen Sie in Abschn. 7.1 den Aufbau der Blutenpflanzen mit den entsprechenden charakteristischen Merkmalen, ihren jeweiligen Bedeutungen und speziellen Bezeichnungen kennen. Dies ist die Grundlage, um die Begriffe in den folgenden Abschnitten, die die Systematik der Bedecktsamer umfasst, verstehen zu konnen.

Pflanzliche Vielfalt stellt fur den Menschen eine wichtige Ressource dar (Abschn. 1.1). Der Mensch hat einen gravierenden Einfluss auf die Natur und verandert Lebensraume, Herkunfte und pflanzliche Wachstumsbedingungen nachhaltig, was auch von gesellschaftspolitischer Relevanz ist. Deshalb bedarf es des Naturschutzes.

Es werden die Gefaspflanzen vorgestellt. Dabei handelt es sich um eine Pflanzengruppe, die durch die Anpassung an das Landleben charakterisiert ist, auch wenn manche Vertreter sekundar wieder Wasserstandorte besiedeln. Lernen Sie im vorliegenden Kapitel die morphologischen Anpassungen kennen, sowie die Stelartheorie (Kasten 4.1) und die Telomtheorie (Kasten 4.4).