Priv.-Doz. Dr. Matthias Kropf is Deputy Head of the Institute for Integrative Nature Conservation Research at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna.
Abstract:
Steppe grasslands have covered vast areas of European landscapes during the Quaternary, but are nowadays mostly representing rare habitats in Central and Southeastern Europe. As the remaining patches of dry grasslands are important refuges for many rare and endangered species, they are of high relevance for nature conservation. Here, I will report results from two FWF-projects focusing on the biogeographical history of dry grassland plants in Western Germany on the one hand and in the Pannonicum on the other hand. The first project was designed as a transect study and revealed findings about intraspecific genetic variation and plant performance across the species’ peripheral distribution range. Thereby, the specific situation of the northwesternmost “steppe” exclave in Rhineland-Palatinate was highlighted. Within the second project, the local continuity of dry grasslands across the Pannonian and Western Pontic region as well as adjacent areas was investigated by analysing species richness and intraspecific genetic diversity patterns. These analyses followed a vegetational approach by comparing results for the three main grassland orders of the Pannonian and Western Pontic region, i.e. Brometalia erecti, Festucetalia valesiacae, and Stipo-Festucetalia pallentis.

After the seminar (ca. 16:00 h), everybody is welcome to join us for drinks and munchies in the „coffee corner on the second floor“.