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Would you consider the Kakabeak as a corporate logo/brand/charity?

Are you committed to a sustainable future?

Do you value beauty and diversity?

Do you wish to maintain a legacy for those to come; to leave the world a better place?

Before adopting the Kakabeak as part of the corporate identity of your business, you

would want to know that the Kakabeak has a viable future, as you hope your business does, and

it is not heading for extinction. This report has been prepared to outline the needs of the

Kakabeak and your potential part in ensuring the Kakabeaks future is assured

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The future of Kakabeak, Clianthus puniceus

Report by Zo Lee, BSc

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The future of Kakabeak, Clianthus puniceus

Introduction

As a commodity, the Kakabeak is a popular flowering plant, originally cultivated by

Maori (who called it Kowhai ngutukaka) for its bright red flowers (Eagle, 1978); it may well be

the first plant grown for aesthetic reasons in New Zealand . The showiness of the flowers will

probably always be valued and an enduring beauty in New Zealanders lives.

As a critically threatened indigenous plant, its future is in doubt as the genetic variety

necessary to maintain the species in the long-term is rapidly declining in the wild. There is very

little variety in cultivated forms of the Kakabeak (Song, 2005), as these are propagated by

cloning. Genetic variety is the insurance against changing environmental threats such as disease

and changing climate. The genetic variation present in the wild populations must be conserved to

provide a bank of genetic material for future gardens.

Wild populations are threatened predominantly by grazing of introduced animals,

especially deer, goats and hare, and by loss of suitable habitat (Shaw & Burns, 1997). These

threats are difficult to manage in the wild except through intensive efforts.

It is suggested that the future of Kakabeak could be ensured if appropriate plantings were

made on public land where persistent populations could be maintained.

Discussion

We know the population distribution and genetic variability of Kakabeak is small (Song,

2005). It is a critically endangered plant, indigenous to New Zealand (Hitchmough, 2002), found

almost exclusively, in the wild, on the northern East Coast of the North Island (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Geographic distribution ofClianthus puniceus, (Song, 2005)

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Figure 2: Phylogenetic relationships between Clianthus populations (Song, 2005)

Figure 3: Relationship between genetic and physical separation (Clemens, 2002)

The Department of Conservation is committed to preserving Kakabeak in the wild (Shaw,

1993), which has led to the identification of new wild populations. Wild populations are,

however, few and almost all are of very few individuals (DoC, 2004). Furthermore, Kakabeak

readily reproduces vegetatively (by layering) in the wild (Burns, 1997; DoC, 2004). This means

that the genetic variability of the wild populations is low and inbreeding depression is a

significant threat to the ongoing survival of the plant.

Kakabeak is a colonising plant, found growing on disturbed land or in harsh

environments such as cliff sides, landslips or land damaged by floods. Barring the harshest spots,

these environments revert to forest after a period of time, excluding the Kakabeak population.

Kakabeak seed can be distributed by water and remains viable for decades. It is expected that

there is a significant seed bank enabling new populations to become established when

disturbances occur(Shaw & Burns, 1997). However, in the wild, it is a palatable entre for many

introduced browsers, especially hares (Ward-Smith et al., 2005) and there is a very poor survival

rate to flowering because of losses due to predation (Alan Lee, Kakabeak Recovery Group,

Department of Conservation, pers. comm.).

The genetic variety found in Kakabeak populations will need to be preserved to ensure

the long-term survival of this plant. Each individual plant counts as it contains unique genetic

information that may provide the adaptive ability to colonise and survive in new environments.

With global climate change and the significant changes caused by man, such as increased pests,

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diseases and grazing, the viability of the species depends on the adaptive capacity of populations

to survive these pressures. Genetic variety is the greatest asset in surviving these pressures.

Most individual populations are relatively short-lived due to succession and subsequent

loss of suitable habitat. In areas where introduced animals are not under control, the chance of

any seedlings surviving to flowering is very small. Individual plants have a short life of less than

10 years. In areas where introduced animals are under control, such as in mainland islands and

managed conservation lands, other forest trees soon shade out the Kakabeak population.

Furthermore, with conversion of native forest to pasture and forest plantations, the Kakabeak has

fewer opportunities for colonisation. Areas known for Kakabeak must have pests and

successional growth controlled to continue to provide for persistent populations.

Maintaining populations of sufficient size to maintain genetic variation is the most

critical challenge for avoiding the extinction of this iconic plant. Genetic analysis by Jason Song

(2005) indicates the Kakabeak populations along the East Coast represent distinct populations

with genetic differences relative to geographic distances from each other (Figure 3). This

suggests that these populations have evolved naturally in these locations and have not arisen

from garden escapes. It is very important to have populations across a range of climatic and

environmental conditions as this improves the persistence of the species through climatic

changes (Thrall, Burdon, & Murray, 2000) and so this range in population variation needs to be

preserved. This is achieved by keeping the different populations separate and establishing new

populations from nearby, existing populations. This also emphasises the importance of collecting

wild plants when discovered and establishing new populations from them.

Further research is needed on the size and numbers of Kakabeak populations necessary to

maintain a persistent metapopulation where the interactions occur between populations ensure a

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healthy genetic variation. As most current populations are of few numbers, often a single plant,

their genetic variation is very low (Shaw & Burns, 1997) and insufficient to maintain healthy

populations in the long-term(Young & Clarke, 2000). This suggests they are at risk of failure due

to inbreeding though seed set from self-pollination is reported to be high (Alan Lee, pers.

comm.). Genetic analysis suggests there are two or three "groupings" of the species, based on

geographic areas (Song, 2005). If insufficient genetic variation is found within a single

population, plants from within the "group" may need to be used to increase the gene pool.

As kakabeak seed germination is good, plants are easily propagated but their survival in

the wild is poor (Stanley, 2005) due to grazing or poor growth. Reasons for the poor growth are

unknown but the inoculation of seedlings with a rhizobium specific to Kakabeak is being

pursued as a possible remedy. Site selection is also considered critical with microclimates

favouring growth, providing plenty of sun and, perhaps, water for establishment.

As Kakabeak is a colonising plant and prone to being shaded out by successional species,

efforts to maintain the species in the wild will need to be intensive, involving constant clearing

of competing plants. An alternative is to develop sites that are already maintained as open

ground. A successful programme has been developed with Transit whereby Kakabeak are being

planted on the roadsides of recent roadworks. These plants are reportedly growing well (DoC,

2004). Schools have been involved with the propagation of Kakabeak for planting in the wild,

but their grounds may also provide suitable habitat. Cemeteries, railways and airports may also

provide suitable habitat.

As the Kakabeak is likely to remain dependent on human intervention to maintain a long-

term, persistent population and it is such a popular plant, integrating the plant with human

habitation would seem to provide much promise. If the scientific principles of maintaining

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genetic variation and providing the species with opportunities to evolve naturally were upheld,

then we could see a healthy proliferation of this species.

Conclusion

To ensure the future of the Kakabeak:

In theory, the maintaining the genetic variation at a healthy level is straightforward:

1. To retain current allelic diversity, the gene pools of distinct populations should be

maintained

a. Where the effective population is over 1000 individuals, not suffering inbreeding

and in a stable environment, it should be protected and monitored in situ.

b. Other populations are at risk; to preserve the genetic diversity present seed and/or

clonal propagation should be undertaken to increase the effective population to at

least 1000 individuals, in a stable environment.

c. Inbreeding should be mitigated with intentional introductions.

d. Outbreeding should be prevented with migrations

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c. Intensive breeding to increase the mutation rate or purge deleterious alleles could

be integrated with commercial efforts to develop new strains.

3. To promote natural migration

a. The range of populations should become continuous.

In reality, these plants are threatened by grazing animals and loss of suitable habitat.

Open land, protected from grazing animals, is needed to establish persistent populations. Public

land such as roadsides, airports, cemeteries and schools could be utilised. Kakabeak grow easily

from seed and while some requirements are still unknown, establishing Kakabeak populations on

such land is feasible.

A sponsor would be helpful in maintaining a similar role as the Department of

Conservation, in managing and having an interest in these plantings. Any new populations must

be established with consideration to the priority of increasing genetic variation within the

species. Coordination with the Department of Conservation to enable suitable plants to be

returned to the wild when needed would be expected. This requires a long-term commitment,

from a company expecting to be in for the long haul, to ensure the Kakabeaks future that

otherwise will be extinct within 100 years.

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References