Genetic, plastic and epigenetic sources of variation for climate change responses in conifers

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The capacity of conifer populations to adapt to new climatic conditions is important because of their large roles in the global carbon cycle, ecological roles as foundation species in many ecosystems, and importance for resource production. The extent to which we should change forest conservation and management strategies in consideration of climate change will depend on the natural capacity of populations to respond. My research group will explore the potential for adaptive responses from standing variation in core and marginal populations, epigenetic responses to parental environments, tolerance of new conditions through phenotypic plasticity, and contributions to standing variation from somatic mutations. The proposed projects will address the following questions.