Skip to main content
Dryad

Using genomics to optimise and evaluate the performance of underwater forest restoration

Cite this dataset

Wood, Georgina et al. (2020). Using genomics to optimise and evaluate the performance of underwater forest restoration [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.05qfttf0s

Abstract

1. Restoration is an emerging intervention to reverse the degradation and loss of marine habitat-formers and the ecosystem services they underpin. Current best practice seeks to restore populations by transplanting donor individuals chosen to replicate genetic diversity and structure of extant, nearby populations. However, genetic characteristics are rarely empirically examined across generations, despite their potential role in influencing restoration success.

2. We used genomics to design a restoration program for lost underwater forests of Phyllospora comosa, a dominant forest-forming macroalga that went locally extinct from reefs off Sydney, Australia. Population genetic diversity and structure of nearby extant populations informed choice of donor sites. We tested whether donor provenance influenced adult transplant survival, condition (via metrics of epibiosis) and the genetic characteristics of recruits at restoration sites.

3. Extant populations of Phyllospora within a 100 km radius of Sydney comprised three distinct genetic clusters with similar levels of genetic diversity. We transplanted reproductive adults from two of these sites, with the aim of restoring five Phyllospora forests with levels of genetic structure and diversity similar to donor populations.

4. Donor provenance influenced survival and condition of transplanted adults and recruitment levels varied significantly among restoration sites. Yet, recruitment was rapid and genetic diversity and structure of the F1 generation resembled extant populations. This likely occurred because transplanted individuals reproduced synchronously and rapidly post-transplantation, prior to mortality of adult donor transplants.

5. Synthesis and applications: As restoration and the need to “future-proof” marine ecosystems increase globally, it will be critical to understand the role of genetic diversity and structure in restoration success. This study demonstrates that evidence-based selection of donor macroalgal forests for restoration using genomics can result in levels of genetic diversity and structure in the F1 generation that resemble extant populations. However, further refinement of transplantation techniques to maximise recruitment is also needed.02-Jun-2020

Methods

Seaweed genomic data from a panel of 354 SNP loci genotyped using an Agena Bioscience MassARRAY with iPlex GOLD technology.

Morphology data from potential seaweed restoration donor sites.

Survival, condition and recruitment data from 5 seaweed restoration sites in Sydney, Australia.

Funding

Australian Research Council, Award: LP160100836

Australian Research Council, Award: DP170100023

Australian Research Council, Award: DP180104041

Ecological Society of Australia, Award: Holsworth Research Endowment