Populations and Genes on the Move

Varga, Zoltan

The Carpathian basin is outstandingly important with regard to the genetic aspect of its biological diversity and is a focus of international attention. The lecture presents many examples of the native species living in the Carpathian basin, the Dacic species, then the species' of the steppe, the Mediterranean and the so-called xeromontane species, through which we are introduced to the general characteristics of the bio-diversity of the basin, one of the regions richest in species in Europe, and the bio-geographic influences affecting it.
This is followed by an introduction to the fundamental concepts of a new scientific direction, phylogeography. With the combination of demographic and genetic methods, the study of fundamental population-level processes such as gene migration, selection, arbitrary gene drifting and the survival or extinction of species is made possible. The analysis of these processes reveals the structure and the historic-evolutionary dynamics of spreading areas. The lecture concludes with the presentation of two European-scale case studies and the population process of the Carpathian basin following the Ice Age.

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