Myrtle Rust
Posted: August 18th, 2019, 2:47 pm
https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... cYWEYQv-K0
From a friend on facebook
Geoff Williams
Recently spent time in the field with consulting botanist Bob Makinson discussing threats to the critically endangered plants Rhodamnia rubescens and Rhodomyrtus psidioides caused by the invasive pathogen 'Myrtle rust', and how protocols might be developed to 'bank' genetic material. Both species, and others, are likely to go extinct in the wild unless urgent action is undertaken. Myrtle rust is now established in Australia along the east coast from southern New South Wales to Cape York in the far north. Currently over 350 species of Australian Myrtaceae are hosts to the pathogen, and this number is expected to rise. Numerous rainforest species, in particular, are threatened. Imagine Australia's landscapes devoid of so many of our iconic plants, not to mention the animals dependent on them for food and shelter.
From a friend on facebook
Geoff Williams
Recently spent time in the field with consulting botanist Bob Makinson discussing threats to the critically endangered plants Rhodamnia rubescens and Rhodomyrtus psidioides caused by the invasive pathogen 'Myrtle rust', and how protocols might be developed to 'bank' genetic material. Both species, and others, are likely to go extinct in the wild unless urgent action is undertaken. Myrtle rust is now established in Australia along the east coast from southern New South Wales to Cape York in the far north. Currently over 350 species of Australian Myrtaceae are hosts to the pathogen, and this number is expected to rise. Numerous rainforest species, in particular, are threatened. Imagine Australia's landscapes devoid of so many of our iconic plants, not to mention the animals dependent on them for food and shelter.