Discussion and Conclusions

Conclusions

Importance of genetic diversity:

• Increases resilience of population/species to environmental change, disease, etc

• In agriculture (and plant production) generally focus on developing the “best” varietal / cultivar, i.e., minimize genetic diversity

• In restoration, we need to maximize genetic diversity in order for the population to remain resilient to future change

• This is the opposite of long-standing plant propagation and selection practices.

Research Implications:

• Genetic diversity (based on Na, Ne, and LD) differs between Spartina and Juncus at the regional scale.

• Regional diversity was more variable in Spartina across sites, whereas Juncus had higher diversity within MS than outside of MS

• Future restoration projects can be composed of diverse germplasm lines (e.g., collect from multiple locations) that when planted together have a long-term benefit.

• Restoration practitioners should ask the nursery what methods were used in propagation of plants and what steps were taken to ensure a suitably wide range of genotypes.