Factors of Population Extinction Risk, FRISC

The loss of biodiversity, clearly seen over the last few decades, rises understandable concerns that are strengthened by the fact that the reasons for the current rapid species extinctions are not fully recognized. It is commonly assumed that species extinction is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, but it is still unclear which factors are the most important. On the one hand, many data indicate that changes at the DNA level and decline of population genetic pools are crucial factors; on the other, degradation of the environment may occur too rapidly to allow for genetic factors to play any role in exctinctions. It is not clear to what extent the loss in genetic diversity correlates with extinction probability of a species. With the present state of knowledge we do not know whether natural selection, particularly strong under stressful conditions, together with the redundancy of genes, can compensate for negative effects of environmental factors, or if the opposite occurs, with both kinds of factors interacting leading to an increase in extinction rate. This project consists of four scientific tasks which cover a wide range of taxons, environments and stressors that are potentially harmful to the stability of the studied populations.Task 1. Factors of extinction risk of soil microorganisms performing key functions in fundamental biogeochemical processes. Task 2. Effect of interaction between population size and copper exposure: studies on the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. Task 3: Predicting effects of exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model for long-term genetic and demographic effects. Task 4. Metabolic performance and genetic variation in the small rodent Myodes glareolus, from isolated island populations and populations subject to urban pollution. The first task will explore the influence of anthropogenic (mainly metal pollution) and climatic factors on genetic and functional diversity of soil microorganisms. Edaphic environment is essential for soil ecosystem functioning and any disturbance that may affect other parts of the system. Soil ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in numbers of microorganisms contributing to the turnover of nutritional elements such as carbon and nitrogen. The remaining three tasks are focused on organisms belonging to higher trophic levels.