Research Fellow in Landscape Genetics

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 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.

Currently I'm mostly working on a post-doctoral project in Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Germany about the influence of restoration of grasslands on the genetic diversity of grassland plants. To a smaller extent, I still participate in the activities of this work group.

• 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.