Ms Jenna
Currie
PhD student
Topic: the effect of flowering
patterns and pollinator biodiversity on gene flow in spotted
gum.
University of
Tasmania
Gene flow between plantations and native forests
may be regulated by prezygotic mating barriers which prevent
crossing. Despite their importance for gene pool management,
flowering patterns and reproductive ecology are poorly understood
for many tropical hardwood species, but the available evidence
suggests the potential for long distance dispersal of pollen by
bats and birds is a key difference between tropical and temperate
tree species. Spotted gums (Genus Corymbia Section
Politaria) and spotted gum hybrids (with C. torelliana
Section Cadagaria) are preferred taxa for commercial hardwood
plantations in northern Australia. Spotted gums occur naturally as
a species replacement series along the eastern seaboard of
Australia from north Queensland to eastern Victoria. Spotted gum
plantations are largely established within close proximity to
native forests containing spotted gums and other Corymbia
spp. so that interbreeding is likely. The implications of gene
flow for the genetic structure of native spotted gums are largely
unknown but there may be significant evolutionary or ecological
consequences. Gene flow from plantations of spotted gum hybrids
with C. torelliana presents an additional risk as C.
torelliana has been declared as an environmental weed in some
shires in Northern NSW. The objective of this study is to
understand how flowering patterns and pollinator diversity
influence gene flow in spotted gums and how this might be used to
promote or reduce gene flow in Corymbia.
I intend to set up a long term flowering study
of spotted gums and their hybrid with C. torelliana. The
study will examine genetic factors (species, provenance, age) on
flowering abundance and synchrony. The study will also examine
biological and management factors, including site and climatic
variates. A study will be designed to encompass multiple sites
across the major plantation zones in south east Queensland and
northern New South Wales with a view to collecting data well beyond
the life of the current project.
Another component of my project will investigate
the factors influencing small mammal pollinator biodiversity in
tropical hardwood plantations. This may be an effective way to
restrict or promote gene flow and will evaluate the potential
ecological ‘service’ these pollinators may provide in
reducing insect loads in plantations.
I completed my bachelor of agricultural science
with honours at the University of Adelaide, Waite campus, in 2004.
A large component of my honours work was with the Seed Conservation
Centre, botanical gardens of Adelaide and involved seed germination
and storage protocols of two endangered plant species endemic to
Kangaroo Island.
After graduating I worked as a technical officer
for the cereal grain biochemistry lab at the University of
Adelaide, and then joined the horticulture pathology department of
the South Australian Research and Development Institute
(SARDI).
This project is part of the CRC for
Forestry Biodiversity Project
(4.2), subproject 4.2.6 on the management of the risk of gene
flow from eucalypt plantations.
To browse other PhD projects available with the
Biodiversity Project, click here
