The project aims to: (1) Discover the genetic structure, chemical composition, physiological characteristics and reproductive potential of forest flora representatives in the most protected parts of the system (refugia, gorges, canyon valleys and mountain massifs) and the most sensitive parts of the system (forests belt edges), (2) Better understand the adaptive potential of small local populations to survive in adverse environmental conditions and (3) Discover the course of migration in the distant past and predict it in the near future.

The results expected from the research of relict, endemic, endangered, economically important (or potentially important) forest species of our part of the Balkan Peninsula should provide a stable scientific basis for the conservation of biodiversity and directly support the implementation of international commitments on the protection of the biodiversity of forest ecosystems and endangered species. That would make them not only locally, but globally important as well.

Project team:

Dr. Srđan Bojović, project leader

Dr. Zorica Popović

Dr. Rada Matić

Dr. Vera Vidaković

Dr. Milena Stefanović

Miroslava Smiljanić