Format: ORAL

Yasaman Ranjbaran1,2,*, Marco Canella1,2, Niccol Forin1,2, Veronica Malavasi1,2, Rene Meissner3, Sven Winter3, Stefan Prost4, Francesco Dal Grande1,2

1. University of Padua, Padua, Italy 2. University Centre Botanical Garden, Padua, Italy 3. University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria 4. University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

The European Alps, undergoing a climate change rate twice as fast as global averages, present a unique opportunity to investigate the genomic responses of alpine flora to environmental shifts. For this project, we chose a few high-elevation, endemic alpine plants (e.g., Rhizobotrya alpina (NE), Saxifraga tombeanensis (EN)) to assess genomic changes over the past two centuries. For this, we employed a high-throughput genome resequencing approach on historical specimens from diverse herbariums across Europe spanning the last two centuries (1840-2023). By assessing allele frequency changes through time and comparing them with the extant genetic diversity we were able to directly gain insights into climate-driven allele loss and potential adaptations. This study not only sheds light on the evolutionary responses of alpine plants, crucial for their conservation, but also underscores the valuable application of genomics in leveraging natural history collections. The implications of our findings extend beyond the scientific realm, offering critical knowledge for informing conservation strategies and contributing to a deeper understanding of biodiversity in the face of rapid environmental changes.