The Conservation of Biodiverse and Threatened Dry Rainforest Plant Communities Is Vital in a Changing Climate

Marion Howard; Hilary Pearl; Bill McDonald; Yoko Shimizu; Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava; Alison Shapcott

doi:10.3390/conservation4040040

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The Conservation of Biodiverse and Threatened Dry Rainforest Plant Communities Is Vital in a Changing Climate

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The Conservation of Biodiverse and Threatened Dry Rainforest Plant Communities Is Vital in a Changing Climate

Marion Howard, Hilary Pearl, Bill McDonald, Yoko Shimizu, Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava and Alison Shapcott

Conservation, Vol.4(4), pp.657-684

2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/conservation4040040

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Abstract

dry rainforest

regional ecosystem

phylogenetic diversity

DNA barcode

conservation

climatic refugia

Dry rainforest communities are globally threatened by anthropogenic pressures and climatic change but are less well researched and more poorly conserved than mesic rainforests. In response to the increasing loss of biodiversity, the Australian Government joined other international signatory parties to adopt the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The GBF emphasises the maintenance of connectivity and genetic diversity of whole ecosystems via landscape-scale conservation initiatives. Rainforest plant diversity, distinctiveness, and the current level of conservation of seasonal rainforest regional ecosystems of the Central Queensland Coast region in Australia were evaluated. Our three-marker DNA barcode dated phylogeny of rainforest plant taxa together with community species lists were used to calculate phylogenetic diversity (PD) estimates and species composition. Levels of rainforest ecosystem protection were assessed using Queensland government data. This study found selection pressures for moisture and geology significantly influence rainforest distribution and species diversity and evidence of a high degree of variability in terms of conservation. While some phylogenetically distinctive rainforest community types were well conserved, restricted or endangered communities were very poorly protected. Additionally, we found smaller dry rainforests in the Central Queensland Coast represent regional plant migration but are inadequately protected, highlighting the need for a revision of conservation objectives within the region.

Details

Title: The Conservation of Biodiverse and Threatened Dry Rainforest Plant Communities Is Vital in a Changing Climate
Authors: Marion Howard (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Hilary Pearl - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Bill McDonald - Queensland Herbarium
Yoko Shimizu - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science and Engineering - Legacy
Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Alison Shapcott (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Publication details: Conservation, Vol.4(4), pp.657-684
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2024
DOI: 10.3390/conservation4040040
ISSN: 2673-7159
Copyright note: © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Data Availability: Specimen data of species collected for this study are publicly available in the Queensland Herbarium (BRI) species occurrence dataset (https://www.gbif.org/) and the Queensland Herbarium database (https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/?tags=QBEIS accessed on 13 August 2023). Voucher specimens are housed at the Queensland Herbarium (BRI) and the University of the Sunshine Coast herbarium. Sequence data are lodged in the DNA barcode repository, BOLD (https://www.boldsystems.org/), and the open access sequence database, GenBank (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/ accessed on 13 August 2023). All other data are deposited in the University of the Sunshine Coast research repository (available at: https://doi.org/10.25907/00879 accessed on 13 August 2023).
Grant note: The Australian Flora Foundation and the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, provided funding for this study.
Organisation Unit: School of Science and Engineering - Legacy; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation; Sustainability Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991076698402621
Output Type: Journal article

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