Format: ORAL

Chantelle A.T. Doyle 1,2, Manuela Cascini 2, Ryan Tangney 1,4, Sam Yap 2 , Maurizio Rosetto 2, Jason Bragg 2, Charlotte Mills3, Mark K.J. Ooi1

1. Centre for Ecosystem Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia 2. Research Centre for Ecosystem Resilience, Australian Institute of Botanical Science, The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Australia 3. Airseed Technologies Australia Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia 4. Kings Park Science, Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, 1 Kattidj Close, Kings Park 6005 WA,Australia

Many threatened species are at risk of extinction or functional extinction due to genetic and reproductive isolation, arising from historic contractions of ranges, and anthropic fragmentation. One method of managing fragmented populations is through genetics rescue, using translocations, particularly supplementations/augmentations and reintroductions. In our study we used a long lived clonal but preferentially outcrossing case study species to assess the impact of inbreeding on fitness of wild and translocated populations. We paired inbreeding coefficients (FIS) with targeted outcrossing to determine if varied fitness of wild plants could be attributed to inbreeding. We also identified if strategic outcrossing resulted in increased growth, seed viability and reproduction of germinants intended for an augmentation translocation and if these strategies could be used to plan more effective and robust plant translocations where genetic rescue is required.