Study to look at ecosystems' genetic viability

A study is underway in NSW and WA to examine endangered ecosystems using genetic techniques.

Dr Andrew Young and his team at CSIRO Plant Industry are collaborating with Land and Water Australia and WA's Conservation and Land Management on a project looking at the genetic viability of remnant heathland and grassland ecosystems.

Young said that management of remnant vegetation patches was a big issue, as there were diverse groups of plants and many endangered species in these ecosystems.

"There hasn't been a lot of genetic work done," he said. "What has been done has had surprising results."

Young said earlier studies had focussed on several endangered species and had demonstrated that inbreeding caused a reduction in genetic diversity and reproductive problems, such as a decreased ability to set seed.

He said that the preliminary studies on endangered plants have been expanded to allow the study of four to six representative species on a larger scale. The species chosen include eucalypts, acacia and herbs, with both insect and bird pollination strategies.

"The idea is to target broad life history classes that will allow us to make generalisations," said Young.

The scientists have chosen about 20 sites with a range of characteristics and are using a range of techniques to study the sites including measuring genetic variability with microsatellite markers and RFLPs.

Young said that they were interested in the level of genetic variation and how much inbreeding there was in the populations studied. These factors would then be analysed in correlation with other factors such as the size of the remnant site and the distance from other sites.

"We are trying to identify key landscape variables that are predictors of genetic health," he explained, adding that in previous studies with endangered plants they found that sites with less than 200 plants or more than two kilometres from another similar site there was increased potential for inbreeding.

This was not an uncommon occurrence for endangered species, Young said, but was relatively easy to fix - for example by reseeding using seed from a larger site.

The goal was to develop landscape design principles to improve the genetic health of remnant ecosystem patches so that species would be maintained in the ecosystem, he said.

"We are using high-tech molecular methods to unravel complex ecological questions," he said. "We need to understand the genetic demographics of the sites and trial different management techniques."

Young said that the current project was being funded for the next three years in the first instance, with a possibility of two more years after that.