Dr Michał Ronikier
Assistant Professor
Research interests
- Evolution and molecular biogeography of high-mountain and arctic-alpine biota with disjunctive ranges, with a special focus on the European mountains and (sub)polar regions of the Earth (Arctic, Antarctic).
- Structure and evolution of biodiversity in the Island-like high-mountain zone of the Carpathians (intraspecific and species level) in relation to historical and extant causal factors.
- Fine-scale genetic structure of the high-mountain flora in the Tatra Mountains in the context of climate change.
- Endemism of the Carpathian flora and its relevance for biogeography and conservation.
Recent publications (selected)
Bauernfeind V., Ronikier A., Ronikier M., Kozlowski G., Steiner U., Wilts B.D. 2024. Thin film structural color is widespread in slime molds (Myxomycetes, Amoebozoa). Optics Express 32: 5429–5443. DOI
Cieślak E., Ronikier M., Szczepaniak M. 2024. Glacial history of Saxifraga wahlenbergii (Saxifragaceae) in the context of refugial areas in the Western Carpathians. PhytoKeys 246: 295–314. DOI
Jiménez-Mejías P., Manzano S., Gowda V., Krell F.T., Lin M.Y., Martín-Bravo S., Martín-Torrijos L., Nieto Feliner G., Mosyakin S.L., Naczi R.F.C., Acedo C., Álvarez I., Crisci J.V., Luceño Garcés M., Manning J., Moreno Saiz J.C., Muasya A.M., Riina R., Sánchez Meseguer A., Sánchez-Mata D., 1543 additional coauthors [(…) Ronikier A., Ronikier M., (…) Piątek M. (…)] 2024. Protecting stable biological nomenclatural systems enables universal communication: A collective international appeal. BioScience 74: 467–472. DOI
Piętka J., Szczepkowski A., Ronikier M., Saługa M. 2023. Trophic abilities of Trametes gibbosa (Polyporales, Basidiomycota) with respect to the wood of Fagus sylvatica. Drewno. Prace naukowe. Doniesienia. Komunikaty 66: 00008. DOI
Ronikier M., Kuzmanović N., Lakušić D., Stevanoski I., Nikolov Z., Zimmermann N.E. 2023. High-mountain phylogeography in the Balkan Peninsula: isolation pattern in a species of alpine siliceous grasslands and its possible background. Alpine Botany 133: 101–115. DOI
Garcés-Pastor S., Coissac E., Lavergne S., Schwörer C., Theurillat J.-P., Heintzman P.D., Wangensteen O.S., Tinner W., Rey F., Heer M., Rutzer A., Walsh K., Lammers Y., Brown A.G., Goslar T., Rijal D.P., Karger D.N., Pellissier L., The PhyloAlps Consortium, Heiri O., Alsos I.G. 2022. High resolution ancient sedimentary DNA shows that alpine plant diversity is associated with human land use and climate change. Nature Communications 13: 6559. DOI
Ochyra R., Saługa M., Ronikier M. 2022. Taxonomic and nomenclatural novelties in Syntrichia (Bryophyta: Pottiaceae), with reinstatement of an endemic continental Antarctic species. Plant and Fungal Systematics 67: 40–44. DOI
Saługa M., Ochyra R., Ronikier M. 2022. Phylogeographical break and limited connectivity between multiple refugia in pan-Antarctic moss species. Journal of Biogeography 49: 1991–2004. DOI
Cieślak E., Cieślak J., Ronikier M. 2021. Phylogeographical structure of a narrow endemic plant in an isolated high-mountain range: the case of Cochlearia tatrae in the Tatra Mts (Western Carpathians). Preslia 93: 125–148. DOI
Puşcaş M., Ronikier M., Mráz P., Hurdu B.-I. 2021. Biogeography of the Carpathians: towards a better understanding of biodiversity patterns. Plant Systematics and Evolution 307: 29. DOI
Breman E., Hurdu B.-I., Kliment J., Kobiv Y., Kučera J., Mráz P., Pușcaș M., Renaud J., Ronikier M., Šibík J., Schmotzer A., Štubňová E., Szatmari P.-M., Tasenkevich L., Turis P., Slovák M. 2020. Conserving the endemic flora of the Carpathian Region: an international project to increase and share knowledge of the distribution, evolution and taxonomy of Carpathian endemics and to conserve endangered species. Plant Systematics and Evolution 306: 59. DOI
Fragnière Y., Pittet L., Clément B., Bétrisey S., Gerber E., Ronikier M., Parisod C., Kozlowski G. 2020. Climate change and alpine screes: no future for glacial relict Papaver occidentale (Papaveraceae) in Western Prealps. Diversity 12: 346. DOI
Janik P., Ronikier M., Ronikier A. 2020. New protocol for successful isolation and amplification of DNA from exiguous fractions of specimens: a tool to overcome the basic obstacle in molecular analyses of myxomycetes. PeerJ 8: e8406. DOI
Pittet L., Fragnière Y., Grünig S., Bétrisey S., Clément B., Gerber E., Ronikier M., Kozlowski G., Parisod C. 2020. Genetic structure of the endemic Papaver occidentale indicates survival and immigration in the Western Prealps. Alpine Botany 130: 129–140. DOI
Stachurska-Swakoń A., Cieślak E., Ronikier M., Nowak J., Kaczmarczyk A. 2020. Genetic structure of Doronicum austriacum (Asteraceae) in the Carpathians and adjacent areas: toward a comparative phylogeographical analysis of tall-herb species. Plant Systematics and Evolution 306: 14. DOI
Malicki M., Pusz W., Ronikier M., Suchan T. 2019. Population characteristics, habitat and conservation status of Rhododendron ferrugineum L. (Ericaceae), a glacial relict new to Poland. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 88: 3634. DOI
Pusz W., Malicki M., Patejuk K., Ronikier M., Suchan T. 2019. First record of Exobasidium rhododendri (Fuckel) C. E. Cramer in Poland. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 88: 3632. DOI
Suchan T., Malicki M., Ronikier M. 2019. Relict populations and Central European glacial refugia: The case of Rhododendron ferrugineum (Ericaceae). Journal of Biogeography 46: 392–404. DOI
Suchan T., Talavera G., Sáez L., Ronikier M., Vila R. 2019. Pollen metabarcoding as a tool for tracking long-distance insect migrations. Molecular Ecology Resources 19: 149–162. DOI
Tkach N., Röser M., Suchan T., Cieślak E., Schönswetter P., Ronikier M. 2019. Contrasting evolutionary origins of two mountain endemics: Saxifraga wahlenbergii (Western Carpathians) and S. styriaca (Eastern Alps). BMC Evolutionary Biology 19: 18. DOI
Ronikier M., Saługa M., Jiménez J.A., Ochyra R., Stryjak-Bogacka M. 2018. Multilocus DNA analysis supports Didymodon gelidus (Musci, Pottiaceae) as a distinct endemic of the austral polar region. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 87: 3609. DOI
Saługa M., Ochyra R., Żarnowiec J., Ronikier M. 2018. Do Antarctic populations represent local or widespread phylogenetic and ecological lineages? Complicated fate of bipolar moss concepts with Drepanocladus longifolius as a case study. Organisms Diversity & Evolution 18: 263–278. DOI
Urbaniak J., Kwiatkowski P., Ronikier M. 2018. Postglacial history and current population genetic diversity of a central-European forest plant Hacquetia epipactis. Preslia 90: 39–57. DOI
Wierzgoń M., Suchan T., Ronikier M. 2018. Two additions to the moss flora of the South Shetland Islands in the maritime Antarctic. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 87: 3598. DOI
Wojtuń B., Ronikier M. 2018. Polar terrestrial ecosystems: ecology, evolution and biogeography. Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae 87: 3610. DOI
Migdałek G., Nowak J., Saługa M., Cieślak E., Szczepaniak M., Ronikier M., Marcussen T., Słomka A., Kuta E. 2017. No evidence of contemporary interploidy gene flow between the closely related European woodland violets Viola reichenbachiana and V. riviniana (sect. Viola, Violaceae). Plant Biology 19: 542–551. DOI
Suchan T., Espíndola A., Rutschmann S., Emerson B.C., Gori K., Dessimoz C., Arrigo N., Ronikier M., Alvarez N. 2017. Assessing the potential of RAD-sequencing to resolve phylogenetic relationships within species radiations: The fly genus Chiastocheta (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) as a case study. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 114: 189–198. DOI
Mráz P., Barabas D., Lengyelová L., Turis P., Schmotzer A., Janišová M., Ronikier M. 2016. Vascular plant endemism in the Western Carpathians: spatial patterns, environmental correlates and taxon traits. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 119: 630–648. DOI
Mráz P., Ronikier M. 2016. Biogeography of the Carpathians: evolutionary and spatial facets of biodiversity. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 119: 528–559. DOI
Paul W., Cieślak E., Ronikier M., Migdałek G., Słomka A., Żabicka J. 2016. Low genetic diversity of declining Viola uliginosa (Violaceae) at its southern range limits in Poland. Acta Biologica Cracoviensia Series Botanica 58: 71–82. DOI
Suchan T., Pitteloud C., Gerasimova N.S., Kostikova A., Schmid S., Arrigo N., Pajkovic M., Ronikier M., Alvarez N. 2016. Hybridization capture using RAD probes (hyRAD), a new tool for performing genomic analyses on museum collection specimens. PLoS ONE 11: e0151651. DOI