Adaptation to Climate in Widespread Eucalypt Species: Climate-resilient revegetation of multi-use landscapes: exploiting genetic variability in widespread species

The long term success of revegetation efforts will depend upon the planted species’ resilience to climate change. Restoration of Australia’s degraded and fragmented multi-use landscapes represent multi-million dollar investments, yet current practices take little account of climate change. Until recently there has been a strong focus on using local genetic stock (germplasm) for optimal restoration. In a changing climate this paradigm is being questioned and research on this is urgently needed. Many widespread species occur across a range of climatic conditions and, thus, may possess adaptations that could be utilised to improve climate resilience of restored ecosystems. Species can achieve a widespread distribution via two main mechanisms; (1) by genetically diverging into a series of populations, each specialised for the local conditions, and/or (2) through high phenotypic plasticity (the ability of an individual to adjust its characteristics in response its environment), enabling each individual to thrive in a wide range of conditions. The extent to which each population is specialised or plastic in response to climate will determine the seed-sourcing strategy required for optimal restoration outcomes under a changing climate. In addition, highly specialised populations are likely to be more severely impacted by a changing climate than highly plastic populations, and so the nature of adaptation to climate has implications for the ongoing management of both natural and restored ecosystems.Final report to the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility. NCCARF Publication 27/13