Format: POSTER

Garima Singh1, Marco Canella1, Sara Natale1, Nicoletta La Rocca1, Alessandro Alboresi1, Barbara Baldan1, pela Pungarek2, Francesco dal Grande1

1 University of Padova, Padova, Italy 2 The Slovenian Museum of Natural History, Slovenia

Alpine plants with small, disjunct populations are among the most vulnerable to extinction due to climate change. In fact, under the global change scenario, it is predicted that several alpine species may decline and be replaced by those from lower elevation through upward range extension. Such species therefore require immediate efforts for assessing their fitness and vulnerability to climate change to plan adequate biodiversity management and recovery. Here we studied Favratia zoysii, a narrow endemic chasmophyte plant of South-east Alps to evaluate its adaptive potential and conservation status. Briefly, after obtaining a high-quality reference genome, we implemented a low-coverage whole genome resequencing approach on 150 individuals from the entire distribution range. We found that the F. zoysii populations show signatures of genetic vulnerability and characteristics of declining populations. We propose a road map to management and recovery for this species that could be extended to alpine endemics having small population sizes.