Genetic conservation of radiata pine and coast redwood

Abstract

This paper is a personal history of how 1962 and 1964 research collections of radiata pine ( Pinus radiata D. Don) were first perceived as, and then converted into, genetic-conservation collections. It recounts an early period of financial support from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and from those most likely to benefit in Australia and New Zealand, and of both financial and organizational support from the University of California (UC). Then came a period of contesting philosophies and reordering priorities. Support from UC was reduced, and NSF support was withdrawn. New Zealand institutions redirected their support to radiata-pine collections deployed in New Zealand, with the goal of securing a broad genetic base taking precedence over the 1962–1964 California collections' primary goal of conserving genetic architecture. Several American foundations excluded forest trees from their support portfolios, so that their genetic-conservation activities could be focused on more traditional agricultural species. Then came a period of renewed interest in non-agricultural species. Additional collections of native radiata pine were made in 1978. In the period between 1964 and 1978, basic research had been producing more complete and more reliable information on the genetic architecture of radiata pine with each passing year, resulting in a revised conservation strategy for the 1978 collections. During each episode of neglect, however, substantial portions of the 1962–1964 California collections were irretrievably lost. Finally, a more recent genetic-conservation collection of coast redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens [D. Don] Endl.) is described. Unlike the radiata pine collection, the redwood collection has support from an endowment established by the Save The Redwoods League.