Evolutionary ecology of umbrella and flagship species of vertebrates in Slovakia

The applying institution for this project is the Slovak Academy of Sciences in cooperation with partner institution the Technical University in Zvolen. The project deals with evolutionary mechanisms which are involved in the successful reproduction, variability of phenotype, fitness and survival of populations of endangered species in environment under global changes. By understanding the ecology of endangered species, conservation may become more efficient for human society. Ecologically distinct representatives of the umbrella and flagship vertebrate species of Slovakia (Western capercaillie, Lynx, Greater noctule bat, European pond turtle) which are known to have negative population trends or demographic and population-genetic information is very limited were selected for this project.