Ecological genetics in forest ecosystems under stress as analysed by the simulation model ECO-GENE

Previous investigations revealed that air pollutants influence the genetic structure of forest tree populations by affecting the genetic system via various single population genetic processes. A holistic approach that allows the integration of these results and an estimation of the importance these affected processes including their interactions when operating together in the genetic systems is missing. Therefore the simulation model ECO-GENE was developed. The model integrates the most important processes. The model is generic, it can be used for different research tasks (such as estimation of the effect of air pollutants, climate change, silviculture etc.) and serve as tool for decision making in different fields of application. One example for the model application is demonstrated. Here a good agreement between the empirically observed and the pertinent simulations for parameter sets of the mating system was found. These results indicate that the model assumptions on the components of the mating system and their interrelations are realistic.