RA1 WEBINAR: Restoration genetics for swamp maire

Restoration genetics of a critically threatened New Zealand Myrtaceae, Syzygium maire

July 2023

Balkwill C. 2023. Restoration genetics of a critically threatened New Zealand Myrtaceae, Syzygium maire Beyond Myrtle Rust Webinar. 19/07/2023.

ABSTRACT

Syzygium maire (swamp maire, maire tawake, waiwaka), is an endemic, critically endangered canopy tree species of Aotearoa New Zealand’s swamp forests. Formerly widespread, extant populations are small, fragmented and under pressure from myrtle rust. Information on the geographic and environmentally structured distribution of the genetic diversity of maire tawake would support conservation and restoration strategies aimed at facilitating future resilience of the species.

Colan Balkwill, a PhD student at Victoria University of Wellington, talks about how he used a novel long read, high accuracy sequencing technology to enable the rapid, cost-effective assembly of a reference genome for maire tawake. This enabled a genotyping-by-sequencing approach to assess the genetic diversity, population structure of S. maire across Aotearoa New Zealand.