Dr. Iris Reinula
DAAD scholar
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
Department Community Ecology
Theodor-Lieser-Straße 4
06120 Halle (Saale)
Research Interests
My study area is landscape genetics and genomics. I study how landscape changes have influenced the genetic diversity of grassland plants. My study system is mostly grasslands, which have had a drastic decrease in the area in the past hundred years due to overgrowing. I’m interested in studying the effect of current and historical habitat area and connectivity on the neutral (not under natural selection) genetic diversity of plant populations. Additionally, I’m curious about detecting loci with adaptive relevance and the response of adaptive (under natural selection) genetic diversity to landscape change and how much spatially isolated plant populations exchange diaspores and pollen that ensures the genetic diversity of populations.
For my current post-doctoral project, I want to see what influence the restoration of grasslands has on the genetic diversity of grassland plants.
Curriculum Vitae
August 2026 – February 2027 DAAD scholar in UFZ
2025–… University of Tartu, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, Research Fellow in Landscape Genetics
2018–2024 University of Tartu, Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, Department of Botany, PhD
2016–2018 University of Tartu, Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation, MSc
2013–2016 University of Tartu, Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation, BSc
Publications
• Bernhardsson, O., Valdaru, E., Aavik, T., Baltz, L. M., Dostálek, T., Ende, L. M., ..., Kivastik, M., ..., Reinula, I., ..., Sõber, V., ..., Viljur, M-L., ..., & Jacquemyn, H. (2026). Pollinator community composition and pollen resource use in calcareous grasslands under different landscape contexts across Europe. Journal of Animal Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70299
• Gibson, K., Suškevičs, M., Prūse, B., Barberis, M., Cousins, S. A., Fišer, Ž., ... Kivastik, M., ... Reinula, I., ... & Aavik, T. (2026). Engaging the public in plant science: Communication facilitators and barriers of scaling up a citizen science campaign. People and Nature. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70248
• Sarmiento Cabello, S., Reinula, I., Schneider, F., Clayton-Brown, J., Aavik, T., Rico, Y. & Ashton, P. (2026). Landscape genetics in plants: challenges and insights from the XX International Botanical Congress. Landscape Ecology 41, 4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-025-02235-5
• Kivastik, M., Castro, S., Conti, E., Jacquemyn, H., Keller, B., Lengyel, A., ... Reinula, I., ... & Aavik, T. (2025). Heterostylous plants in an era of global change: a review on the consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation. AoB Plants, plaf016. https://doi.org/10.1093/aobpla/plaf016
• Aavik, T., Reitalu, T., Kivastik, M., Reinula, I., Träger, S., Uuemaa, E., Barberis, M., Biere, A., Castro, S., Cousins, S. A. O., Csecserits, A., Dariotis, E., Fišer, Ž., Grzejszczak, G., Huu, C. N., Hool, K., Jacquemyn, H., Julien, M., Klisz, M., … Zobel, M. (2025). A pan-European citizen science study shows population size, climate and landuse are related to biased morph ratios in the heterostylous plant Primula veris. Journal of Ecology, 00, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14477
• Reinula, I., Träger, S., Järvine, H. T., Kuningas, V. M., Kaldra, M., & Aavik, T. (2024). Beware of the impact of land use legacy on genetic connectivity: A case study of the long-lived perennial Primula veris. Biological Conservation, 292, 110518. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110518
• Kaldra, M., Träger, S., Reinula, I., Keller, B., Conti, B. & Aavik, T. (2023). Skewed morph ratios lead to lower genetic diversity of the heterostylous Primula veris in fragmented grasslands. Plant Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.13531.
• Reinula, I., Träger, S., Hernández-Agramonte, I. M., Helm, A., Aavik, T. (2021). Landscape genetic analysis suggests stronger effects of past than current landscape structure on genetic patterns of Primula veris. Diversity and Distributions, 27, 1648−1662. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13357.
• Aavik, T., Carmona, C.P., Träger, S., Kaldra, M., Reinula, I., Conti, E., Keller, B., Helm, A., Hiiesalu, I., Hool, K., Kaisel, M. et al. (2020). Landscape context and plant population size affect morph frequencies in heterostylous Primula veris‐results of a nationwide citizen‐science campaign. Journal of Ecology, 108(6): 2169-2183. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.13488.
• Aavik, T., Thetloff, M., Träger, S., Hernández-Agramonte, I. M., Reinula, I., & Pärtel, M. (2019). Delayed and immediate effects of habitat loss on the genetic diversity of the grassland plant Trifolium montanum. Biodiversity and Conservation, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01822-8.