| Abstract Detail
Conservation Biology Krauss, Siegy [1]. An ecological genetic assessment of non-local provenance seed for restoration. Decisions about the source location of seed or propagules can have significant consequences for ecological restoration outcomes. Historically, local provenance material has been advocated, largely on the basis of the assumption that non-local provenance material is relatively maladapted. More recently, attention to climate change has seen recommendations for predictive sourcing. However, field trials to assess the scale and extent of local adaptation and climate change effects in a restoration context are rare, especially in an Australasian context. In this study, we assessed the germination and early growth performance of 9600 seed collected from 24 provenances across the distribution of Banksia menziesii (Proteaceae), a widespread, dominant species of Banksia woodlands in south Western Australia, and international biodiversity hotspot. Climatic data were obtained for all source sites, and climatic and geographic distances among sites calculated. The field trial was conducted within two post-sandmining restoration sites near Perth. Germination, and above- and below-ground seedling biomass were measured and variation across provenances assessed. Correlations between provenance performance and all distance matrices were assessed to determine the predictive capacity of each distance measure. The field trial also assessed the performance of seed sourced from sites that are hotter and drier than the local restoration site. Seed germination and seedling growth measures declined significantly with increasing geographic and climatic distance from the restoration sites, indicating a home-site advantage. Despite unusually hot and dry conditions at the restoration sites during the trial, seed sourced from the hottest and driest sites performed significantly worse than seed from more local sites, indicating a disadvantage to predictive sourcing for climate change. Ultimately, this ecological genetic study reinforces the benefits of local seed sourcing for the restoration of Banksia woodlands.
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1 - Kings Park And Botanic Garden, Fraser Ave, West Perth, WA, 6005, Australia
Keywords:
restoration
seed sourcing
provenance
adaptation
climate change.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 63
Location: Salon 19/20/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2015
Time: 10:30 AM
Number: 63009
Abstract ID:148
Candidate for Awards:None |
