Ecosourcing for resilience in a changing environment

作者：Peter B. Heenan, William G. Lee, Matt S. McGlone, James K. McCarthy, Caroline M. Mitchell, Matthew J. Larcombe, Gary J. Houliston · 发表于：New Zealand Journal of Botany · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1080/0028825x.2023.2210289 · 被引用次数：11 · 研究领域：Species Distribution and Climate Change、Genetic diversity and population structure、Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Ecosourcing seed of ‘local genetic stock’ for ecological restoration has been practiced in New Zealand for about 50 years. However, we believe that it has become unnecessarily restrictive. Ecosourcing ensures plants used for restoration are adapted to local conditions and maintains current distributional patterns. It also restricts genetic diversity, confines species to their historic range, and reduces the conservation options for threatened species. For example, New Zealand tree species, the life form most frequently used in restoration plantings, have low population genetic differentiation and high net migration of alleles throughout their range. Therefore, very little is gained through restrictive ecosourcing of tree seed. Furthermore, avoidance of the danger of inbreeding depression and widening the scope for closer environmental matching, argues for larger rather smaller source areas. Climate change, extinctions across multiple trophic levels, habitat loss and fragmentation, spread of invasive species, and novel habitats have completely altered the contemporary biotic landscape. Conservation needs to engage with these changes if it is to protect and restore ecosystems. Restrictive ecosourcing is counter-productive as it limits utilising genotypic, phenotypic and ecotypic diversity, and thus the evolutionary potential of indigenous species and ecosystems. It also reduces opportunities to protect biodiversity when populations are small, and limits response to climate chan...