[RWG] WEB: Genetic Considerations in Ecological Restoration: An annotated bibliography

[Olivia Kwong]

http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/ASP/CPC_GCERBRefTopicList.asp

Genetic considerations in ecological restoration: an annotated bibliography

About this Project

Land managers often face the need to plan and implement revegetation or 
restoration work for disturbed or degraded habitats. Often there is relatively 
little background information to provide context about a focal species or the 
greater plant community. A common concern, particularly
for larger scale restoration, centers on how to make decisions about the 
selection of wild source material to be used. Managers are seeking information 
about the importance of local genetic adaptation in restoration work, and how 
to maximize the chances for successful restoration and minimize the possibility 
of any deleterious effects.

Many managers have questions about the kinds of dynamic processes in play in 
the genetics of populations, how common (and how fine scale) local adaptation 
may be, how it may vary among and between species, and the potential 
deleterious or positive effects inherent in different approaches for selecting 
source material. They wonder how definitive and well studied some of these 
issues may be. They want to make the best choice, but wonder what really 
matters, and the severity of any risks. Decisions about these issues may affect 
production processes and the economics of producing native plant materials and 
implementing restoration projects.

Most biologists and land managers are not genetic experts and have limited time 
to devote to indepth study of the issues. Nevertheless they would like to 
develop a basic background in the pertinent literature, and understand the 
issues that need to be balanced in making decisions.
Examining different approaches and the potential consequences of different 
choices will help us make sensible decisions for their particular situation.

The Center for Plant Conservation has grappled with these same issues. We 
decided that conducting a literature review to explore some of the key issues, 
and making that bibliography available with a short summary of the contents of 
each work would be helpful. The result of that effort is the bibliography 
topics.

We asked the assistance of a number of population geneticists to review and 
help in this effort. They were generous with their time and we appreciate their 
investment. A list of advisers who participated in this effort is available on 
the website. This group continues work to help articulate areas where more 
information is needed, examine different approaches for different kinds of 
restoration challenges, and help develop some practical recommendations for 
managers.

This bibliography would not have been possible without the dedication and 
excellent research skills of Andrea Kramer, who conducted a great deal of the 
review as a part of her graduate studies, and the help of Kim Preston who 
assisted as well during an internship with the Center for Plant Conservation. 
We thank both of these student scientists. Lori Calcaterra, our volunteer 
special information librarian, also provided advice and assistance in the 
literature searches.

Finally, the Center for Plant Conservation wishes to thank Congress for funding 
the Native Plant Materials Development Program, supporting development of 
appropriate native plant materials for rehabilitation of our wildlands. We also 
thank The Bureau of Land Management for their
support for this project.


Scope of the Literature Review and Intended Use

While initially intended to present available literature on the topic of 
ecotypes, the scope of the bibliography was expanded as a result of discussions 
with numerous authorities on the subject (see report for list of meeting 
attendees). The current bibliography now presents literature on topics broadly 
relevant to genetic considerations in ecological restoration. Inclusion of 
literature was not limited to peer-reviewed scientific articles, but also 
includes grey literature, including book chapters, papers from meetings and 
symposia, and reports. While no references were knowingly excluded, it must be 
noted that this is not an exhaustive account of all literature that could 
potentially fall under the larger heading of .genetic considerations in 
ecological restoration. It is hoped, however, that the material presented will 
provide a basis for
understanding and allow further exploration under a number of relevant topics 
on this subject.


Methodology and Presentation

Along with input from experts in the field, numerous bibliographic search 
engines were used to compile the current references, including Web of Science, 
JSTOR, FirstSearch, Google Scholar, as well as Google and searches of grey 
literature databases and inquiries of agencies and
partners. Broad topics and subtopics that were searched under are outlined 
below. Abstracts and, in many cases, the entire text and references of 
available documents were scanned by the compiler to ensure inclusion of all 
citations under appropriate topic and subtopic headings. When available, author 
abstracts or summaries are presented with references. In cases when this was 
unavailable, a summary was written specifically for this project, based on the 
contents of the article. It can be noted that some topics and subtopics contain 
fewer references than others; this
is not intentional, but due to a lack of available published or unpublished 
literature on the specific subject. Given the increasing awareness of, and 
research on, these topics, it is anticipated that the bibliography will be 
continuously updated as information becomes available. If you can recommend 
additional references, or have suggestions for changes within the current 
bibliography, comments will be welcomed. Contact us at cpc at mobot.org.

The bibliography searches can be done by title, author, keyword or the topics 
as listed on the website.