Sabiha Lakehsar (University of Kassel)
Sabiha Lakehsar's Master thesis was awarded with the Prize for the Best Plant Science Master Thesis, which was carried out at Kassel University in the year 2023 with the title:
Genetische Diversität und Klonalität von Vaccinium uliginosum (L.) und Vaccinium oxycoccos (L.) in hessischen Reliktpopulationen
Peatland plant species that are rare in Hesse exhibit extreme genetic impoverishment locally, which further increases the risk of extinction due to a lack of adaptability.
Most Hessian peatlands and peatland-like habitats are naturally small in size and spatially isolated from one another. Historical use has further decimated these areas. Nowadays, the consequences of climate change are increasing the pressure on these sensitive habitats and the species associated with them. As part of this project, population genetic studies were performed on two species of peatland plants that are rare in Hesse, the small cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos), which is locally in sharp decline, and the bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum), which has always been rare in Hesse. It has been shown that the only populations of both species in northern Hesse have almost no genetic diversity. The last remaining population of the small cranberry in the Reinhardswald consists of only three genetically very similar clones, while the only two populations of bog bilberry consist of a single and three closely related clones respectively. By comparing this data with results from larger, more vital populations in southern Lower Saxony and central Hesse, recommendations for specific conservation measures in the relict populations in northern Hesse can be derived.
___
Sabiha Lakehsar completed the work in the botany working group of Prof. Dr. Birgit Gemeinholzer under the supervision of Dr. Daniela Guicking.
