New research on rapidly-disappearing ancient plant offers hope for species recovery
Cycads, 'living fossil' descendents of the first plants that colonised land and reproduced with seeds, are rapidly going extinct because of invasive pests and habitat loss, especially those species endemic to islands. But new research on Cycas micronesica published recently as the cover article in Molecular Ecology calls into question the characterisation of these plants as relicts (leftovers of formerly abundant organisms), and gives a glimpse into how the remaining plants - those that survived the loss of more than 90% of their population - can be conserved and managed. By sampling what is left of C. micronesica on Guam, researchers, including some from the American Museum of Natural History, found moderate genetic variation within local populations and different levels of gene flow between populations...