Species conservation strategies Shorea lumutensis: genetic variation and conservation David Boshier, and SL Lee

Shorea lumutensis Balau Putih – White Balau © SL Lee Balau Putih – White Balau © SL Lee Small hermaphrodite flowers © SL Lee Sub-sessile fruits with three outer and two inner wings Slide 2 - photos of S. lumutensis leaves, flowers and fruits. © SL Lee

Endemic to Peninsular Malaysia Shorea lumutensis is restricted to Manjung District, Peninsular Malaysia, and confined to five forest reserves. Endangered as distribution restricted & habitat potentially threatened by human activities. Slide 3 - map showing species distribution in peninsular Malaysia restricted to five reserves in one region.

© SL Lee Dry coastal hill dipterocarp forests on moderate-fertility soils, in microclimates where drainage is good or where high soil moisture levels cannot be permanently maintained Slide 4 - photo showing the type of hill forest where the species occurs and the number of trees left. The number of large trees was estimated to be < 500 for these five populations

Threat – logging activities (Segari Melintang FR) Slides 5 to 7 - photos of the S. lumutensis populations illustrating particular threats to each population. © SL Lee

© SL Lee Threat – excavation of stone (quarry) & conversion to oil palm plantation (Teluk Muroh FR) Slides 5 to 7 - photos of the S. lumutensis populations illustrating particular threats to each population.

Threat – Land development for tourism (Pangkor Selatan & Sg Threat – Land development for tourism (Pangkor Selatan & Sg. Pinang FRs) Slides 5 to 7 - photos of the S. lumutensis populations illustrating particular threats to each population. © SL Lee

Need for research Little was known about the biology of S. lumutensis Research aimed to assess the population ecology and population genetics to elucidate specific ecological and genetic requirements for the species’ existence … … In order to subsequently develop conservation strategies Slide 8 - shows the need for research if conservation is to be effective

Relatedness among population Population dynamics Relatedness among population Demographic structure Gene flow & mating system Ecological studies Genetic studies Effective breeding unit Slide 9 - shows the main topics that were researched and provide the basis for the results presented in the study. It is important to note that ecological and genetic studies are complementary and not either/or. Minimum viable population size Population survey Flowering biology Germination & seedling studies

Total of 416 individuals >1 cm dbh recorded within 8ha plot Density of S. lumutensis >30 cm dbh within plot, 4.4 trees/ha © SL Lee Large number of seedlings scattered around the mature tree Slide 10 - shows the demographic survey that was carried out. © SL Lee

Short-term population dynamics (2001-2004) 75 trees died over the 3-year study period Mortality was detected only at the two lowest-sized classes Growth was slow - 0.3mm/yr to 2.4 mm/yr Slide 11 - shows the main results of the population dynamics survey. One-year old © SL Lee Two-year old © SL Lee Seedling performance

Conservation alternatives Preservation of actual diversity Conservation of evolutionary potential Mantain options for future generations, while satisfying present needs Slide 12 - covers alternative objectives for conservation. The teacher must stress the need for students to define an objective for their conservation strategy. It is very common for students to not define a strategy or to forget to explain what it is. Without this, it is impossible to judge the efficacy of a conservation strategy. Objectives should be pertinent and realistic and avoid the ‘‘operation was a success, but the patient died” syndrome, i.e. we carried out all the activities successfully, but it did nothing to help.

Slides 13 to 14 - cover the issue of population size Slides 13 to 14 - cover the issue of population size. Relate the values in this slide to the population sizes in the students’ text (see Conservation status, page 4) and how overlapping generations mean that the effective population sizes of these remnants will be lower than the census number.

How big is “big enough”? 50/500 rule (Franklin 1980) 50 - inbreeding depression to acceptable level 500 - sufficient for new variation from mutation to replace that lost by genetic drift refers to effective population size (Ne) rather than survey numbers (N) – so may need many more! in trees Ne smaller than N due to: overlapping generations, dioecy, asynchronous flowering, fecundity differences between individuals Slides 13 to 14 - cover the issue of population size. Relate the values in this slide to the population sizes in the students’ text (see Conservation status, page 4) and how overlapping generations mean that the effective population sizes of these remnants will be lower than the census number.

Where should we conserve? In situ - Ex situ In situ - reserve system of undisturbed, protected areas within natural distribution (ecosystem based) Ex situ - artificial maintenance of populations outside natural distribution (species based) Slides 12 to 15 – summarise different approaches to conservation and associated problems. The emphasis should be on their complementary nature, rather than either/or. The emphasis will, however, shift depending on the characteristics of the species and the population of concern.

Conservation of biodiversity in situ : trees as a paradigm Ideal reserve model Emphasis: large, continuous, protected areas Limitations: location, size, security, biology: Movement of animals Extensive distribution of many species Gene flow between populations Upland, non agricultural areas Essential but not sufficient Slides 12 to 15 – summarise different approaches to conservation and associated problems. The emphasis should be on their complementary nature, rather than either/or. The emphasis will, however, shift depending on the characteristics of the species and the population of concern.

Conservation of biodiversity ex situ : methods and limitations seed banks - problems of regeneration plantations - changes in gene frequencies, few populations botanical gardens - deficiencies for gene pool conservation Slides 12 to 15 – summarise different approaches to conservation and associated problems. The emphasis should be on their complementary nature, rather than either/or. The emphasis will, however, shift depending on the characteristics of the species and the population of concern. © RBG Kew © RBG Kew

Conservation of biodiversity ex situ : methods and limitations - useful, but resources limit application to few species (usually commercial) - last gasp holding for highly endangered species - complementary to other approaches Slides 15 to 18 - summarise different approaches to conservation and associated problems. The emphasis should be on their complementary nature rather than either/or. The relative emphasis on in situ or ex situ will shift depending on the characteristics of the species and population of concern.

Conservation of alleles common - rare what proportion? widespread - localised what scale? widespread localised common easy key rare (<0.05) sample size luck Slides 19 - shows part of Table 4 and allows the teacher to highlight the variation in allele frequencies across populations. Certain alleles occur at high frequency in most populations (e.g. Slu110-222, 224; Slu124-137, 153; Slu175-220, 226). Some alleles have higher frequencies in only one or a few populations and so give an indication of differentiation between the populations, reflecting the impact of population size and gene flow (e.g. Slu110-220SM; Slu124-133TM, 165LU; Slu175-221TM).

Widespread vs locally common alleles frequency Pop 1 2 3 4 Allele a 0.500 0.320 0.450 0.550 b 0.250 0.030 0.050 0.050 c 0.230 0.400 0.450 0.350 d 0.020 0.250 0.050 0.050 Slide 20 - allows the teacher to explain the significance of Table 3 and the dendrogram (Fig. 2) in the exercise, i.e. which populations are more closely related genetically to each other. You can point to the idea that this can help in prioritising which populations to conserve, although the data show that there is actually little differentiation. Table 3 shows that the geographical distances between the populations are very small and the overall distribution covers only 20 km.

Figure 2: Dendrogram of genetic similarities between the five populations of Shorea lumutensis (bootstrap % values on branches based on 1000 replications). Table 3. Geographic distance (in km) for the five S. lumutensis populations. Slide 21 - allows the teacher to explain the significance of Table 3 and Figure 2 for the exercise, i.e. from Table 3, the species shows mixed mating (some trees mainly outcrossed and some trees with a high degree of selfing) and the mean distance of pollen flow. The breeding unit size relates to the number of different pollen parent genotypes represented in a maternal tree’s fruit crop. Breeding unit area is calculated from the paternity-analysis estimates of breeding unit size and the census densities of adult, reproductively mature trees. Figure 2 shows the results of a simulation to calculate how many trees would be needed to maintain the current levels of genetic diversity in the populations.

Slides 22 to 24 - allow the teacher to go over what the students should be doing in the exercise. The teacher should stress: a) the need to be specific in what the strategy includes – students tend to be too general in their recommendations; b) the need to prioritise – students tend to recommend doing everything, failing to recognise that resources for these actions are extremely limited; c) they should indicate what information/evidence they have used to justify each recommended action; d) they need to present a convincing case that would sway a donor/ government to give them funds and/or enact policy or legislation to conserve the species.

How many conservation areas are required? Exists in five populations <500 large trees Slides 22 to 24 - allow the teacher to go over what the students should be doing in the exercise. The teacher should stress: a) the need to be specific in what the strategy includes – students tend to be too general in their recommendations; b) the need to prioritise – students tend to recommend doing everything, failing to recognise that resources for these actions are extremely limited; c) they should indicate what information/evidence they have used to justify each recommended action; d) they need to present a convincing case that would sway a donor/ government to give them funds and/or enact policy or legislation to conserve the species. High levels of genetic diversity Low population differentiation

Conservation strategies: in situ conservation? Selection of in situ gene conservation areas How many conservation areas are required? How large does each conservation area need to be? How should conservation areas be designed? Monitoring? Management? Conservation strategies: ex situ conservation? Slides 22 to 24 - allow the teacher to go over what the students should be doing in the exercise. The teacher should stress: a) the need to be specific in what the strategy includes – students tend to be too general in their recommendations; b) the need to prioritise – students tend to recommend doing everything, failing to recognise that resources for these actions are extremely limited; c) they should indicate what information/evidence they have used to justify each recommended action; d) they need to present a convincing case that would sway a donor/ government to give them funds and/or enact policy or legislation to conserve the species. How? Where? Who?

Shorea lumutensis each group summarize on wall chart paper or PowerPoint Remember need a conservation objective prioritise actions – resources are limited list the localised but common alleles? list problems by type - genetic, which pops. too small? which are different? - other types of problems which conservation methods - in situ, ex situ? who? will do, what? where? how will you pay for it?

Pn. Hamidah Mamat (FRIM) helped draw the maps. © SL Lee © SL Lee © SL Lee Ghazali Jaafar, Yahya Marhani, Mariam Din and Sharifah Talib for field and technical assistance. The late Baya Busu, Ramli Punyoh, Mustapa Data, Ayau Kanir, Apok Kassim and Angan Atan for field assistance Pn. Hamidah Mamat (FRIM) helped draw the maps. © SL Lee © SL Lee © SL Lee