Dr. Oliver Caré

Seit 06/2016 Promotionsstudium
Abteilung für Forstgenetik und Forstpflanzenzüchtung, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
10/2013 – 02/2016 M.Sc. Forstwissenschaften und Waldökologie
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
10/2009 – 01/2013 B.Sc. Forstwissenschaft und Ressourcenmanagement
Technische Universität München - Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan, Freising


Current Project
Application of SNP-technology for the selection of frost- and snow resistant sustainable mountain spruce genotypes in the light of a provenance shift in Thuringia

Picea abies ([L.] KARST.) is amongst the economical most valuable tree species not only in Thuringia, though highly affected by climate change. Thus, the future main distribution will presumable be more restricted to higher elevations in Germany. Especially in wind- exposed high elevation environments with heavy snow loads and hare fort risks the importance of adapted provenances is apparent. Gradual phenotypic change of the crown architecture between low and high elevation ecotypes is attributed mainly to the adaptation to these risks.
Management and utilisation in the past with the usage of allochthones reproduction material led to a high proportion of lowland provenance stand in the low mountain range in Germany. Few relict stands like the “Schlossbergfichte” [literal: castle hill spruce] in the Thuringia Forest survived, but are not able to serve the demand of seeding material. Thus, characterising mountainous ecotypes on a genetic level to aid the selection of suitable seed material in crucial. We analysed two groups of spruce stands in the low mountain range in Germany, where the first group consists of narrow crowned mountain spruce phenotypes and the second of lowland phenotypes with typical broad crown forms. The stands grow under similar harsh climatic conditions in high altitudes, thus enabling to study possible genetic variation at candidate genes that might underlie adaption to higher elevation.


Publications

Caré, O.; Müller, M.; Vornam, B.; Höltken, A.; Kahlert, K.; Krutovsky, K.; Gailing, O.; Leinemann, L. (2018) High Morphological Differentiation in Crown Architecture Contrasts with Low Population Genetic Structure of German Norway Spruce Stands. FORESTS 9 (12), 752, doi:10.3390/f9120752.

Caré, O.; Gailing, O.; Müller, M.; Krutovsky, K. V.; Leinemann, L. (2020) Crown morphology in Norway spruce (Picea abies [Karst.] L.) as adaptation to mountainous environments is associated with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes regulating seasonal growth rhythm. Tree Genetics and Genomes 16:4. doi: 10.1007/s11295-019-1394-x