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Jech SD, Day N, Barger NN, Antoninka A, Bowker MA, Reed S, Tucker C. Cultivating Resilience in Dryland Soils: An Assisted Migration Approach to Biological Soil Crust Restoration. Microorganisms 2023; 11:2570. [PMID: 37894228 PMCID: PMC10608944 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11102570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2023] [Revised: 10/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Land use practices and climate change have driven substantial soil degradation across global drylands, impacting ecosystem functions and human livelihoods. Biological soil crusts, a common feature of dryland ecosystems, are under extensive exploration for their potential to restore the stability and fertility of degraded soils through the development of inoculants. However, stressful abiotic conditions often result in the failure of inoculation-based restoration in the field and may hinder the long-term success of biocrust restoration efforts. Taking an assisted migration approach, we cultivated biocrust inocula sourced from multiple hot-adapted sites (Mojave and Sonoran Deserts) in an outdoor facility at a cool desert site (Colorado Plateau). In addition to cultivating inoculum from each site, we created an inoculum mixture of biocrust from the Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, and Colorado Plateau. We then applied two habitat amelioration treatments to the cultivation site (growth substrate and shading) to enhance soil stability and water availability and reduce UV stress. Using marker gene sequencing, we found that the cultivated mixed inoculum comprised both local- and hot-adapted cyanobacteria at the end of cultivation but had similar cyanobacterial richness as each unmixed inoculum. All cultivated inocula had more cyanobacterial 16S rRNA gene copies and higher cyanobacterial richness when cultivated with a growth substrate and shade. Our work shows that it is possible to field cultivate biocrust inocula sourced from different deserts, but that community composition shifts toward that of the cultivation site unless habitat amelioration is employed. Future assessments of the function of a mixed inoculum in restoration and its resilience in the face of abiotic stressors are needed to determine the relative benefit of assisted migration compared to the challenges and risks of this approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sierra D Jech
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Natalie Day
- Colorado Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Grand Junction, CO 81506, USA
| | - Nichole N Barger
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Anita Antoninka
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
| | - Matthew A Bowker
- School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
- Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA
| | - Sasha Reed
- Southwest Biological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Moab, UT 84532, USA
| | - Colin Tucker
- Manti-La Sal National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, Monticello, UT 84535, USA
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Pfeilsticker TR, Jones RC, Steane DA, Vaillancourt RE, Potts BM. Molecular insights into the dynamics of species invasion by hybridisation in Tasmanian eucalypts. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:2913-2929. [PMID: 36807951 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 11/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
In plants where seed dispersal is limited compared with pollen dispersal, hybridisation may enhance gene exchange and species dispersal. We provide genetic evidence of hybridisation contributing to the expansion of the rare Eucalyptus risdonii into the range of the widespread Eucalyptus amygdalina. These closely related tree species are morphologically distinct, and observations suggest that natural hybrids occur along their distribution boundaries and as isolated trees or in small patches within the range of E. amygdalina. Hybrid phenotypes occur outside the range of normal dispersal for E. risdonii seed, yet in some hybrid patches small individuals resembling E. risdonii occur and are hypothesised to be a result of backcrossing. Using 3362 genome-wide SNPs assessed from 97 individuals of E. risdonii and E. amygdalina and 171 hybrid trees, we show that (i) isolated hybrids match the genotypes expected of F1 /F2 hybrids, (ii) there is a continuum in the genetic composition among the isolated hybrid patches from patches dominated by F1 /F2 -like genotypes to those dominated by E. risdonii-backcross genotypes, and (iii) the E. risdonii-like phenotypes in the isolated hybrid patches are most-closely related to proximal larger hybrids. These results suggest that the E. risdonii phenotype has been resurrected in isolated hybrid patches established from pollen dispersal, providing the first steps in its invasion of suitable habitat by long-distance pollen dispersal and complete introgressive displacement of E. amygdalina. Such expansion accords with the population demographics, common garden performance data, and climate modelling which favours E. risdonii and highlights a role of interspecific hybridisation in climate change adaptation and species expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thais R Pfeilsticker
- School of Natural Sciences and ARC Training Centre for Forest Value, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Rebecca C Jones
- School of Natural Sciences and ARC Training Centre for Forest Value, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Dorothy A Steane
- School of Natural Sciences and ARC Training Centre for Forest Value, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - René E Vaillancourt
- School of Natural Sciences and ARC Training Centre for Forest Value, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Brad M Potts
- School of Natural Sciences and ARC Training Centre for Forest Value, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
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Palumbi SR, Walker NS, Hanson E, Armstrong K, Lippert M, Cornwell B, Nestor V, Golbuu Y. Small-scale genetic structure of coral populations in Palau based on whole mitochondrial genomes: Implications for future coral resilience. Evol Appl 2023; 16:518-529. [PMID: 36793699 PMCID: PMC9923468 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2022] [Revised: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability of local populations to adapt to future climate conditions is facilitated by a balance between short range dispersal allowing local buildup of adaptively beneficial alleles, and longer dispersal moving these alleles throughout the species range. Reef building corals have relatively low dispersal larvae, but most population genetic studies show differentiation only over 100s of km. Here, we report full mitochondrial genome sequences from 284 tabletop corals (Acropora hyacinthus) from 39 patch reefs in Palau, and show two signals of genetic structure across reef scales from 1 to 55 km. First, divergent mitochondrial DNA haplotypes exist in different proportions from reef to reef, causing PhiST values of 0.02 (p = 0.02). Second, closely related sequences of mitochondrial Haplogroups are more likely to be co-located on the same reefs than expected by chance alone. We also compared these sequences to prior data on 155 colonies from American Samoa. In these comparisons, many Haplogroups in Palau were disproportionately represented or absent in American Samoa, and inter-regional PhiST = 0.259. However, we saw three instances of identical mitochondrial genomes between locations. Together, these data sets suggest two features of coral dispersal revealed by occurrence patterns in highly similar mitochondrial genomes. First, the Palau-American Samoa data suggest that long distance dispersal in corals is rare, as expected, but that it is common enough to deliver identical mitochondrial genomes across the Pacific. Second, higher than expected co-occurrence of Haplogroups on the same Palau reefs suggests greater retention of coral larvae on local reefs than predicted by many current oceanographic models of larval movement. Increased attention to local scales of coral genetic structure, dispersal, and selection may help increase the accuracy of models of future adaptation of corals and of assisted migration as a reef resilience intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen R Palumbi
- Department of Biology and Oceans Department Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University Pacific Grove California USA
| | - Nia S Walker
- Department of Biology and Oceans Department Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University Pacific Grove California USA.,Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii Honolulu Hawaii USA
| | - Erik Hanson
- Department of Biology and Oceans Department Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University Pacific Grove California USA
| | - Katrina Armstrong
- Department of Biology and Oceans Department Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University Pacific Grove California USA
| | - Marilla Lippert
- Department of Biology and Oceans Department Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University Pacific Grove California USA
| | - Brendan Cornwell
- Department of Biology and Oceans Department Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University Pacific Grove California USA
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Alaniz AJ, Smith-Ramírez C, Rendón-Funes A, Hidalgo-Corrotea C, Carvajal MA, Vergara PM, Fuentes N. Multiscale spatial analysis of headwater vulnerability in South-Central Chile reveals a high threat due to deforestation and climate change. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 849:157930. [PMID: 35952895 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Revised: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Headwaters represent an essential component of hydrological, ecological, and socioeconomical systems, by providing constant water streams to the complete basin. However, despite the high importance of headwaters, there is a lack of vulnerability assessments worldwide. Identifying headwaters and their vulnerability in a spatially explicit manner can enable restauration and conservation programs. In this study, we assess the vulnerability of headwaters in South-Central Chile (38.4 to 43.2°S) considering multiple degradation factors related to climate change and land cover change. We analyzed 2292 headwaters, characterizing multiple factors at five spatial scales by using remote sensing data related to Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC), human disturbances, vegetation cover, climate change, potential water demand, and physiography. We then generated an index of vulnerability by integrating all the analyzed variables, which allowed us to map the spatial distribution of headwater vulnerability. Finally, to estimate the main drivers of degradation, we performed a Principal Components Analysis with an Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering, that allowed us to group headwaters according to the analyzed factors. The largest proportion of most vulnerable headwaters are located in the north of our study area with 48.1 %, 62.1 %, and 28.1 % of headwaters classified as highly vulnerable at 0, 10, and 30 m scale, respectively. The largest proportion of headwaters are affected by Climate Change (63.66 %) and LUCC (23.02 %) on average across all scales. However, we identified three clusters, in which the northern cluster is mainly affected by LUCC, while the Andean and Coastal clusters are mainly affected by climate change. Our results and methods present an informative picture of the current state of headwater vulnerability, identifying spatial patterns and drivers at multiple scales. We believe that the approach developed in this study could be useful for new studies in other zones of the world and can also promote Chilean headwater conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alberto J Alaniz
- Departamento de Ingeniería Geográfica, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile; Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
| | - Cecilia Smith-Ramírez
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Los Lagos, 1305 Av. Fuchslocher, Osorno, Chile; Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad-Chile (IEB), Las Palmeras 3425, Santiago, Chile; Instituto de Conservación, Biodiversidad y Territorio, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Recursos Naturales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Isla Teja s/n, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Adriana Rendón-Funes
- Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Los Lagos, 1305 Av. Fuchslocher, Osorno, Chile; Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad-Chile (IEB), Las Palmeras 3425, Santiago, Chile; Área de Ecología, Museo de Historia Natural Alcide d'Orbigny, 1458 Av. Potosí, Cochabamba, Bolivia
| | | | - Mario A Carvajal
- Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Departamento de Gestión Agraria, Facultad Tecnológica, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Pablo M Vergara
- Departamento de Gestión Agraria, Facultad Tecnológica, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile
| | - Norka Fuentes
- Departamento de Acuicultura y Recursos Agroalimentarios, Universidad de Los Lagos, Av. Fuchslocher 1305, Osorno, Chile
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Costa e Silva J, Potts BM, Wiehl G, Prober SM. Linking leaf economic and hydraulic traits with early-age growth performance and survival of Eucalyptus pauciflora. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:973087. [PMID: 36426150 PMCID: PMC9679299 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.973087] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Selection on plant functional traits may occur through their direct effects on fitness (or a fitness component), or may be mediated by attributes of plant performance which have a direct impact on fitness. Understanding this link is particularly challenging for long-lived organisms, such as forest trees, where lifetime fitness assessments are rarely achievable, and performance features and fitness components are usually quantified from early-life history stages. Accordingly, we studied a cohort of trees from multiple populations of Eucalyptus pauciflora grown in a common-garden field trial established at the hot and dry end of the species distribution on the island of Tasmania, Australia. We related the within-population variation in leaf economic (leaf thickness, leaf area and leaf density) and hydraulic (stomatal density, stomatal length and vein density) traits, measured from two-year-old plants, to two-year growth performance (height and stem diameter) and to a fitness component (seven-year survival). When performance-trait relationships were modelled for all traits simultaneously, statistical support for direct effects on growth performance was only observed for leaf thickness and leaf density. Performance-based estimators of directional selection indicated that individuals with reduced leaf thickness and increased leaf density were favoured. Survival-performance relationships were consistent with size-dependent mortality, with fitness-based selection gradients estimated for performance measures providing evidence for directional selection favouring individuals with faster growth. There was no statistical support for an effect associated with the fitness-based quadratic selection gradient estimated for growth performance. Conditional on a performance measure, fitness-based directional selection gradients estimated for the leaf traits did not provide statistical support for direct effects of the focal traits on tree survival. This suggested that, under the environmental conditions of the trial site and time period covered in the current study, early-stage selection on the studied leaf traits may be mediated by their effects on growth performance, which in turn has a positive direct influence on later-age survival. We discuss the potential mechanistic basis of the direct effects of the focal leaf traits on tree growth, and the relevance of a putative causal pathway of trait effects on fitness through mediation by growth performance in the studied hot and dry environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Costa e Silva
- Centro de Estudos Florestais, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Brad M. Potts
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
- Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Forest Value, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
| | - Georg Wiehl
- CSIRO Land and Water, Private Bag 5, Wembley, WA, Australia
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Leaf Economic and Hydraulic Traits Signal Disparate Climate Adaptation Patterns in Two Co-Occurring Woodland Eucalypts. PLANTS 2022; 11:plants11141846. [PMID: 35890479 PMCID: PMC9320154 DOI: 10.3390/plants11141846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
With climate change impacting trees worldwide, enhancing adaptation capacity has become an important goal of provenance translocation strategies for forestry, ecological renovation, and biodiversity conservation. Given that not every species can be studied in detail, it is important to understand the extent to which climate adaptation patterns can be generalised across species, in terms of the selective agents and traits involved. We here compare patterns of genetic-based population (co)variation in leaf economic and hydraulic traits, climate–trait associations, and genomic differentiation of two widespread tree species (Eucalyptus pauciflora and E. ovata). We studied 2-year-old trees growing in a common-garden trial established with progeny from populations of both species, pair-sampled from 22 localities across their overlapping native distribution in Tasmania, Australia. Despite originating from the same climatic gradients, the species differed in their levels of population variance and trait covariance, patterns of population variation within each species were uncorrelated, and the species had different climate–trait associations. Further, the pattern of genomic differentiation among populations was uncorrelated between species, and population differentiation in leaf traits was mostly uncorrelated with genomic differentiation. We discuss hypotheses to explain this decoupling of patterns and propose that the choice of seed provenances for climate-based plantings needs to account for multiple dimensions of climate change unless species-specific information is available.
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Climate Adaptation, Drought Susceptibility, and Genomic-Informed Predictions of Future Climate Refugia for the Australian Forest Tree Eucalyptus globulus. FORESTS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/f13040575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the capacity of forest tree species to adapt to climate change is of increasing importance for managing forest genetic resources. Through a genomics approach, we modelled spatial variation in climate adaptation within the Australian temperate forest tree Eucalyptus globulus, identified putative climate drivers of this genomic variation, and predicted locations of future climate refugia and populations at-risk of future maladaptation. Using 812,158 SNPs across 130 individuals from 30 populations (i.e., localities) spanning the species’ natural range, a gradientForest algorithm found 1177 SNPs associated with locality variation in home-site climate (climate-SNPs), putatively linking them to climate adaptation. Very few climate-SNPs were associated with population-level variation in drought susceptibility, signalling the multi-faceted nature and complexity of climate adaptation. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed 24% of the climate-SNP variation could be explained by annual precipitation, isothermality, and maximum temperature of the warmest month. Spatial predictions of the RDA climate vectors associated with climate-SNPs allowed mapping of genomically informed climate selective surfaces across the species’ range under contemporary and projected future climates. These surfaces suggest over 50% of the current distribution of E. globulus will be outside the modelled adaptive range by 2070 and at risk of climate maladaptation. Such surfaces present a new integrated approach for natural resource managers to capture adaptive genetic variation and plan translocations in the face of climate change.
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Harrison PA, Davidson NJ, Bailey TG, Jones M, Gilfedder L, Bridle K, Bowman DMJS, Baker TP, Richardson BJ, Wallis L, Potts BM. A decade of restoring a temperate woodland: Lessons learned and future directions. ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/emr.12537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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Davidson NJ, Potts BM, Burgess S, Bailey TG. Dry biomass and carbon sequestration in environmental plantings in the Midlands of Tasmania. ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/emr.12529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Neil J. Davidson
- School of Natural Sciences University of Tasmania Hobart TAS Australia
- Greening Australia Hobart TAS Australia
| | - Brad M. Potts
- School of Natural Sciences University of Tasmania Hobart TAS Australia
| | | | - Tanya G. Bailey
- School of Natural Sciences University of Tasmania Hobart TAS Australia
- Greening Australia Hobart TAS Australia
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Davidson NJ, Bailey TG, Burgess S. Restoring the Midlands of Tasmania: An introduction. ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/emr.12522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Davidson NJ, Bailey TG, Burgess S, Potts BM. New approaches for revegetating agricultural landscapes to provide connectivity for wildlife: The example of the Tasmanian Midlands, Australia. ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/emr.12519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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Bailey TG, Harrison PA, Davidson NJ, Weller‐Wong A, Tilyard P, Steane DA, Vaillancourt RE, Potts BM. Embedding genetics experiments in restoration to guide plant choice for a degraded landscape with a changing climate. ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/emr.12474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Harrison PA, Camarretta N, Krisanski S, Bailey TG, Davidson NJ, Bain G, Hamer R, Gardiner R, Proft K, Taskhiri MS, Turner P, Turner D, Lucieer A. From communities to individuals: Using remote sensing to inform and monitor woodland restoration. ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/emr.12505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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Bailey TG, Harrison PA, Hanusch Y, Ranyard C, Hooghkirk C, J. Davidson N, Pinkard EA, Potts BM. Investigating constraints on direct seeding for native revegetation in the Tasmanian Midlands. ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/emr.12498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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