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

2. 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

3. 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.

4. © 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

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

6. © 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.

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. How big is “big enough”? 50/500 rule (Franklin 1980)
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.

15. 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.

16. 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.

17. 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

18. 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.

19. 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. Slu , 224; Slu , 153; Slu , 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. Slu SM; Slu TM,
165LU; Slu TM).

20. Widespread vs locally common alleles
frequency
Pop
Allele a b c d
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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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

24. 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?

25. 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?

26. 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