Dear All,

(apologies if you're already aware of this)

It seems that a shift in thinking on provenance issues and seed collection
of indigenous plants may be occurring.

Researchers at CSIRO have in recent times been reviewing past practice
which recommended using seed/plant propagules from as close as possible to
the planting site. The emerging picture as I understand it is that greater
emphasis should in most cases be placed on getting 'healthy' seed rather
than being preoccupied with getting 'local seed'. That is, seed collection
should focus foremost on the capture high quality and genetically diverse
seed.

The issue is discussed briefly on the FloraBank website (
http://www.florabank.org.au/default.asp?V_DOC_ID=1018 - see today's news
item), and Florabank suggest they are likely to issue updated guidelines in
the future.

The research behind the new ideas is published in this article: "Seed
supply for broadscale restoration: maximising evolutionary potential"
(2008) LM Broadhurst, A Lowe, DJ Coates, SA Cunningham, MMcDonald, PA Vesk,
C Yates. Evolutionary Applications 1: 587-597., which is currently
available as a free download:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121397345/PDFSTART?CRETRY=1&\
SRETRY=0


Well worth a read.

Cheers,

Scott Watson
Senior Landscape Architect (Landscape Management)
Landscape and Urban Design
VicRoads Technical Consulting
Level 3 / 3 Prospect Hill Rd, Camberwell. 3124.
T 03 9811 8228
F 03 9811 8329
M 0431 707 806
E scott.watson@...
W www.vicroads.vic.gov.au


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