Rescuing Australian plants

Our aim is to develop realistic eco-evolutionary models of genetic rescue and test these in relevant ecological scenarios to improve guidelines for restoration and translocation of threatened native plants.

A white Australian plant in the bush.

Bringing back species from the brink

Threatened species are often reduced to small and highly fragmented remnant populations that suffer from reduced genetic variation and reproductive failure. From a genetic perspective, there has been much debate around the best strategies to recover a species from the brink. Often population augmentation (assisted migration and genetic rescue) is advocated, yet many open questions remain, including the optimal genetic composition of source material to minimise the risks of outbreeding depression yet maximize adaptive potential.

In this project we are using a combination of theory, manipulative experiments and genomics, across several threatened plant species to test several long-standing open questions in the field. This involves several long-term ecological and genetic monitoring programs, to assess the outcomes of particular designs over a short number of generations in the wild. In some of these study systems we are also examining altered plant-pollinator interactions and their role in influencing genetic composition of future generations and how this contributes to reproductive output.

If you would like to get involved in our research programs on genetic rescue in Australian plants see contact details below.

Funding: Private business/Industry partner

Partners: Private business/Industry partner, Edith Cowan University

Contact: Associate Professor David Field, david.field@mq.edu.au