Can assisted gene flow increase the resilience of terrestrial-breeding frogs to a drying climate?

Date: 26, Sep, 2017
Author(s):   Nicola Mitchell, Tabitha Rudin-Bitterli, Deanne Cummins
Publisher: TSR Hub

Assisted gene flow is an emerging method to aid species to adapt to new conditions, such as those created by climate change. It involves the movement of individuals (or their genes) from one population to another. Although increasingly dry conditions in southern Australia could threaten amphibians, assisted gene flow has not yet been explored as a conservation tool for amphibians. The project will investigate whether assisted gene flow could enhance the resilience of two species of non-threatened amphibians from the south-west of Australia to increasingly dry conditions. The results will inform management decisions on whether pre-adapted genotypes could be introduced to populations at risk.