Prolific or precarious: a review of the status of Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum [R.Br.] A.DC., Santalaceae)
R. C. McLellan
A C , K. Dixon B and D. M. Watson A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Institute for Land, Water and Society, School of Animal, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia.
B Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia.
C Corresponding author: Email: rmclellan@csu.edu.au
The Rangeland Journal 43(4) 211-222 https://doi.org/10.1071/RJ21017
Submitted: 24 March 2021 Accepted: 30 August 2021 Published: 7 October 2021
Journal Compilation © Australian Rangeland Society 2021 Open Access CC BY-NC-ND
Abstract
Across its entire range in Australia’s western and southern rangelands, Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum [R.Br.] A.DC.) is on a path towards ‘extinction in the wild’––the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s penultimate category of conservation risk. Sandalwood populations have substantially diminished or become locally extinct, predominantly a consequence of land clearing for agriculture, introduced grazers, disruption of key ecological processes (e.g. seed dispersal, fire regimes) and 175 years of intensive commercial exploitation for its fragrant, high value timber. The status of the world’s last wild-harvested species of sandalwood is significant to both conservation and rangeland management, and the implementation of a science-based sustainable yield approach to management of this species is vital. By highlighting the scale and precipitous rate of decline and identifying key drivers affecting mortality and recruitment, this review outlines the conservation and restoration needs of the species in situ to conserve remaining wild populations, and the need to transition to science-based resource management actions such as farm-based plantation production.
Keywords: parasitic plants, hemiparasitic, forestry, threatened species, forest products.
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