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Secondary Forests Australia

  • Forests Australia
    • Australia's forests
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        • Acacia forest
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    • Australia's State of the Forests Report
      • Synthesis 2023
      • Criterion 1: Conservation of biological diversity
        • 1.1a.i Forest area by type
          • 1.1a.i Supporting information
        • 1.1a.ii Forest area by tenure
          • 1.1a.ii Supporting information
        • 1.1a.iii Forest area in RFA regions
          • 1.1a.iii Supporting information
        • 1.1a.iv Forest area change over time
          • 1.1a.iv Supporting information
        • 1.1c: Area of forest protected for conservation
          • 1.1c: supporting information
        • 1.2a: Forest dwelling species
          • 1.2a: supporting information
        • 1.2b: Threatened forest dwelling species
          • 1.2b: supporting information
        • 1.3a: Species at risk from loss of genetic variation
          • 1.3a: supporting information
        • 1.3b: Genetic resource conservation
          • 1.3b: supporting information
      • Criterion 2: Productive capacity of forest ecosystems
        • 2.1a: Native forest available for wood production and the area harvested
        • 2.1b: Age class and growing stock of plantations
        • 2.1c: Annual removal of wood products compared to sustainable volumes
          • 2.1c.i Sustainable yield and harvest levels (2024)
          • 2.1c.ii Removals by log type (2024)
          • 2.1c.iii Forecast national log availability (2024)
        • 2.1e: Harvested area regenerated or re-established
      • Criterion 3: Ecosystem health and vitality
        • 3.1a: Forest health and vitality
          • 3.1a Supporting information
        • 3.1b: Area of forest burnt
          • 3.1b: supporting Information
      • Criterion 4: Soil and water resources
        • 4.1a: Area of forest managed for protective functions
      • Criterion 5: Forest contribution to global carbon cycles
        • 5.1a: Carbon in forests and forest products
      • Criterion 6: Socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies
        • 6.1a: Value and volume of wood and wood products
          • 6.1a: supporting information
        • 6.1d: Production, consumption, import/export of wood and non-wood products
        • 6.2b: Investment in research and development
          • 6.2b: supporting information
        • 6.4a: Indigenous forest estate
        • 6.5a: Direct and indirect employment
          • 6.5a: supporting information
        • 6.5b: Wage rates and injury rates
          • 6.5b: supporting information
        • 6.5c: Resilience of forest dependent communities
          • 6.5c: supporting information
        • 6.5d: Resilience of forest dependent Indigenous communities
          • 6.5d: supporting information
      • Criterion 7: Legal, institutional and economic framework for conservation and sustainable management
        • 7.1a: Legal framework
          • 7.1a: supporting information
        • 7.1b: Institutional framework
          • 7.1b: supporting information
        • 7.1e: Capacity to conduct and apply research and development
          • 7.1e supporting information
      • About Australia’s State of the Forests Report
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          • Executive summary
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          • Criterion 1 Conservation of biological diversity
          • Criterion 2: Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems
          • Criterion 3: Maintenance of ecosystem health and vitality
          • Criterion 4: Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources
          • Criterion 5: Maintenance of forest contribution to global carbon cycles
          • Criterion 6: Maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies
          • Criterion 7: Legal, institutional and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable management
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        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 2013
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Status of Australia’s Forest Genetic Resources 2021

Publication date: 16 November 2021

Forest genetic resources underpin the diversity of Australia’s forests and forest species as well as their productive capacity. Continual improvement in the understanding of Australia’s forest genetic resources allows better conservation management of forests and forest species, and better management and development of forest resources for productive use.

This ABARES Research Report serves as a source document for all users and stakeholders seeking information on current knowledge and research on conservation, management and use of the genetic diversity in Australia's forest trees and woody plants. It also serves as Australia's Country Report to the UN FAO second State of the World's Forest Genetic Resources Report.

Key findings

  • This report compiles the current status of knowledge on Australia’s forest genetic resources, and covers both native forest genetic diversity and management, and plantation tree genetics and improvement.
  • Australia relies on in situ conservation as the main mechanism for conservation of forest genetic resources, and all the 115 native species and hybrids listed by the FAO as forest genetic resources for Australia have populations conserved in formal and informal reserves and protected areas.
  • Australia also has ex situ conservation programs for a range of forest tree and other plant species, and seed banks hold seed for 127 of the 129 native and exotic species and hybrids listed by the FAO as forest genetic resources for Australia.
  • Molecular technologies are increasingly used in Australia and overseas to characterise species and assist breeding programs for plantation species.
  • Australia is a party to international agreements, treaties and conventions relevant to the conservation, sustainable use and development of forest genetic resources.

Australia has approximately 2,500 native tree species, the main genera being wattles (the genus Acacia, with almost 1,000 species) and eucalypts (the genera Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora, with approximately 800 species). A total of 129 forest tree species and hybrids are listed by the FAO as forest genetic resources for Australia, including 115 native species and hybrids. These include species used for wood products, as well as species used for food, oil and fodder; this list includes some iconic and some threatened Australian forest species.

Australia’s commercial plantation forests consists of exotic (non-native) softwood species such as Pinus radiata, P. caribaea and hybrids, and native hardwood species such as Eucalyptus globulus, E. nitens and E. grandis, as well as the native softwood species Araucaria cunninghamii. Australia’s commercial softwood plantations are mostly managed on long rotations for sawn timber, while the commercial hardwood plantations are mostly managed on short rotations for pulpwood.

Australia relies on in situ conservation as the main mechanism for conservation of forest genetic resources, but also has ex situ programs for a range of forest tree and other plant species.

All the 115 native species and hybrids on the FAO list of forest genetic resources for Australia have populations conserved in situ in formal and informal reserves and protected areas; some of these species are also formally protected under legislation. Australia’s national, state and territory governments have regulations to limit and control the removal of plant and animal products from public and private forests. Management of production forests is regulated under state and territory legislation, with ecologically sustainable forest management an explicit goal, including the conservation and use of forest genetic resources.

Australia’s programs for ex situ conservation of forest species include seed banks, living collections, conservation stands, and seed orchards. Seed banks hold seed for 127 of the 129 species and hybrids listed by FAO as forest genetic resources for Australia. The Australian Tree Seed Centre is a major seed bank based at CSIRO, and a key supplier of seed for forestry species. Seed is also supplied from commercial seed orchards and some conservation plantings that have been converted to seed stands. A range of other seedbanks, including through the Australian Seed Bank Partnership, provide seed for conservation, research and revegetation projects.

Most Australian genetic diversity work has been done on forestry species or threatened species. Currently, knowledge from non-molecular characterisation of within-species diversity (including from provenance and other trials) is not formally inventoried at a national or sub-national level. However, molecular and genomic data are now being captured by various national projects and databases.

The genetic resources of Australia's forests play a critical role in maintaining and developing plantation productivity. Attributes used for selection in tree breeding programs include faster growth, improved wood quality, pest resistance, and adaptability to different environments. Ongoing access to forest genetic resources will allow selection and development of tree crops more suited to the warmer and drier conditions predicted for southern and eastern Australia under climate change, or to the warmer and wetter conditions predicted for northern Australia.

Molecular technologies, and marker-assisted selection, are increasingly used in Australia and overseas to characterise species and assist breeding programs. Genomic sequencing of flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis), a key plantation eucalypt species, will accelerate eucalypt selection and breeding for productivity and wood quality. More than 200 Australian forest species have been examined for population genetic variation using molecular techniques, including 76 of the species listed by FAO as forest genetic resources for Australia.

There are at least 16,836 native vascular flora species (plants) in Australia’s forests. Of these, 1,074 were listed as threatened species under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) as at 2016. Seventeen of the species on the FAO list of forest genetic resources for Australia are listed as threatened under the EPBC Act. Australia’s main plantation species, and the majority of other tree species of economic and social importance, are not listed as threatened species. State and territory legislation also protects threatened species within jurisdictions.

Habitat fragmentation, reduction in population sizes, and spatial isolation of populations are threats that can reduce genetic variation within populations, and increase genetic divergence between populations, due to effects on gene flow and breeding. Changes in genetic diversity and breeding systems associated with these factors have been shown for several forest species. Depending on the species, Australia’s management responses vary from storage (banking) of genetic material as seed, restoring connectivity between populations, and assisted translocation. Revegetation using seed sources that match the projected future climate may confer greater climate resilience on forests.

Australia is a party to international agreements, treaties and conventions that are directly or indirectly relevant to the conservation, sustainable use and development of forest genetic resources. These include the Convention on Biological Diversity, the International Tropical Timber Agreement, and the World Trade Organisation Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.

Download the Research Report

Status of Australia’s Forest Genetic Resources 2021 [PDF, 2.5 MB]

Status of Australia’s Forest Genetic Resources 2021 [Word, 2.6 MB]

Thumb nail of Status of Australia’s Forest Genetic Resources 2021

Status of Australia’s Forest Genetic Resources 2021 [PDF, 2.5 MB]

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Page last updated: 16 November 2021

We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia. We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Artwork: Protecting our Country, Growing our Future
© Amy Allerton, contemporary Aboriginal Artist of the Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Gamilaroi nations.

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