ABSTRACT
Conifer forests are important reservoirs of biological diversity (at gene, individual, and community level) as a consequence of their complex history and environmental variation at local and regional scales. Conifers are keystone organisms in European ecosystems; they directly support rich plant and animal communities that rely on them and mediate nutrient and water ecological cycles. Impacts of global change on forests are expected to be acute, resulting in notable changes in species range, ecosystem functioning and interactions among species. Because they are sessile but long-lived, trees will either disappear, have to disperse to other places via their seeds and pollen or be able to adapt in situ over a reduced number of generations. To adapt, trees will rely more on standing genetic variation and recombination than on new mutations (Aitken et al. 2008).
