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Australian Journal of Botany Australian Journal of Botany Society
Southern hemisphere botanical ecosystems
RESEARCH FRONT (Open Access)

Saving rainforests in the South Pacific: challenges in ex situ conservation

Karen D. Sommerville A H , Bronwyn Clarke B , Gunnar Keppel C D , Craig McGill E , Zoe-Joy Newby A , Sarah V. Wyse F , Shelley A. James G and Catherine A. Offord A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A The Australian PlantBank, The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Mount Annan, NSW 2567, Australia.

B The Australian Tree Seed Centre, CSIRO, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

C School of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

D Biodiversity, Macroecology and Conservation Biogeography Group, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.

E Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222 Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand.

F Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst Place, RH17 6TN, United Kingdom.

G National Herbarium of New South Wales, The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.

H Corresponding author. Email: karen.sommerville@rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au

Australian Journal of Botany 65(8) 609-624 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT17096
Submitted: 24 May 2017  Accepted: 16 November 2017   Published: 11 January 2018

Journal compilation © CSIRO 2017 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND

Abstract

Rainforests in the South Pacific hold a considerable amount of plant diversity, with rates of species endemism >80% in some countries. This diversity is rapidly disappearing under pressure from logging, clearing for agriculture or mining, introduced pests and diseases and other anthropogenic sources. Ex situ conservation techniques offer a means to limit the loss of plant diversity. Seed banking is considered the most efficient and cost effective of these techniques but is applicable only to seed capable of tolerating desiccation and cold storage. Data on the degree of tolerance of these conditions was lacking for more than half of the 1503 South Pacific rainforest genera examined for this review. Of the 710 genera for which data were available, the storage behaviour of 324 was based on an assessment of only one or two species, although 76% of those genera contained at least 10 species. Many of the unstudied or poorly studied genera are shared across several South Pacific nations, providing an excellent opportunity for collaboration on future ex situ research and conservation. Of the 386 genera for which three or more species have been studied, 343 have a very high proportion of species (>95% of those tested) that are suitable for seed banking. Seed banking could therefore provide a suitable means for preserving a large proportion of the rainforest flora before it becomes extinct in the wild. Alternatives for preserving species that are not suitable for seed banking are also discussed.

Additional keywords: cryopreservation, living collections, orthodox, recalcitrant, restoration, seed banking, seed storage behaviour, tissue culture.


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