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. 2025 Jun 12;14(12):1812.
doi: 10.3390/plants14121812.

On the Precipice of Extinction: Genetic Data in the Conservation Management of In Situ and Ex Situ Collections of the Critically Endangered Muehlenbeckia tuggeranong (Tuggeranong Lignum)

Isobel Walcott  1   2 , Angela Lanspeary  1 , Foyez Shams  2 , Peter Bredell  3 , Emma Cook  4 , William Higgisson  1
Affiliations

On the Precipice of Extinction: Genetic Data in the Conservation Management of In Situ and Ex Situ Collections of the Critically Endangered Muehlenbeckia tuggeranong (Tuggeranong Lignum)

Isobel Walcott et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Muehlenbeckia tuggeranong is an endangered subshrub with an estimated seven individuals remaining in its native habitat, and twelve held in an ex situ living collection in the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra. We conducted a genetic analysis on all known individuals of the species both in situ and ex situ to inform the conservation management of one of the rarest plants in Australia, certainly the rarest in the Australian Capital Territory. We found recent seedlings did not result from hybridisation with M. axillaris but resulted from sexual reproduction within the ex situ collection, leading to greater genetic diversity ex situ than in situ. However, low genetic diversity across the species indicates a high risk of extinction. Through simulations we identified the optimal breeding pairs to minimise further genetic diversity loss and increase the number of available genotypes for future reintroduction. Our work highlights the need to incorporate genetically informed breeding programs into living collections management of endangered plant species, particular those with unique life history traits.

Keywords: botanic gardens; conservation genetics; dioecious; endangered plants; ex situ and in situ conservation; living collections.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Plot from PCoA analysis on the wild, ANBG adult, and ANBG seedling genotypes and the closely related congener species M. axillaris from PCoA analysis on the wild, ANBG adult, and ANBG seedling genotypes and the closely related congener species M. axillaris.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Observed heterozygosity values of unique individuals, grouped by seedlings (far left), adults present both ex situ and in situ (middle left), adults present in ex situ only (middle right) and adults present in situ only (far right).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Heat map of mean observed heterozygosity values derived from simulated crossings between individuals; summaries organized by management group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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