<
https://theconversation.com/as-australias-giant-trees-succumb-to-fire-or-drought-were-racing-to-preserve-their-vital-genetic-data-212539>
"Giant old trees are survivors. But their size and age do not protect them
against everything. They face threats such as logging or intensifying drought
and fire as the climate changes.
Tasmania has long been home to plants ancient and giant. One rare shrub, King’s
lomatia (
Lomatia tasmanica), has been cloning itself for at least 43,000
years.
But in recent years, even some giants have succumbed. The devastating 2019
fires in southern Tasmania killed at least 17 of the largest trees. That
included the largest blue gum (
Eucalyptus globulus) ever measured, the 82
metre high Strong Girl.
But giants still exist. In southern Tasmania’s Valley of the Giants (Styx
Valley), there is a mountain ash (
Eucalyptus regnans) named Centurion now
over 100m tall. Centurion is a leading candidate for the tallest flowering
plant on Earth and the tallest tree in the Southern Hemisphere. (California’s
coastal redwood ‘Hyperion’ reaches 116 metres, but is a non-flowering tree).
For years, I have been drawn to Centurion as a botanical science landmark. I
have climbed it, measured it, and observed it carefully. But after the 2019
fires, my colleagues and I realised the urgency of preserving physical genetic
samples before the chance was lost forever. During the 2019 fires, Centurion
itself narrowly escaped death. It was saved only by the efforts of
firefighters.
Our recent research sequencing a high-resolution genome of Centurion turned up
an intriguing finding – this giant shows greater genetic diversity than we had
expected, which may boost the adaptability of the species. Finding and
preserving samples of Australia’s other remaining giants will help scientists
learn from these remarkable trees."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
