CRB: Collaborative Research: Disease as a Threat to the Biodiversity of an Endangered Plant

保持濒危物种的遗传多样性 是保护生物学的一个重要目标 但 病害对濒危植物的威胁过去一直被忽视 问题研究 疾病可能导致植物数量下降和/或 疾病可能会减少种群内的遗传多样性。 一个 例如孟席斯墙花的白色锈病， 限制消失的濒危植物--糖芥 加州北方沿着原生沙丘群落 一些植物种群患有这种疾病， 虽然壁花一直是广泛的对象， 研究表明，这种疾病的破坏性影响还没有被 研究了 需要进行生态学和遗传学研究。 本研究将仔细研究 壁花及其疾病，以评估疾病是否导致 植物成为濒危或保持植物形态 正在康复 此外，遗传多样性在这两个 植物和病原体种群将被测量三年 并且这将提供分集是否被 在保护过程中，如果有任何变化， 遗传结构 这项研究的许多方面都是独一无二的。 这是一个合作 加州自然保护协会，一个保护 管理组织和密歇根州立大学， 传统的基础研究机构。 这种伙伴关系将 在基础科学和 应用保护。 通过将遗传学研究与 人口监测，管理选项， 孟席斯的壁花将被解决。 另外这款 方法将引入一个通用的战略，以评估 疾病对其他濒危植物的影响。 结果将 为未来的预测数学模型提供基础， 可以用来评估特定的保护活动 会影响恢复。 由此，自然资源保护者将能够 在管理选项中做出选择 包括这些 应用方面是自然界植物病害的基础研究 人口。 该项目将通过以下方式扩展学科： 引入一种新型的模型系统，一种具有不同 比目前正在研究的那些属性。

Maintaining genetic diversity within an endangered species is an important goal of conservation biology. However, the threat of disease to endangered plants has been neglected in past studies. Disease may cause plant numbers to decline and/or the disease may reduce the genetic diversity within a population. An example is a white rust disease of the Menzies'wallflower, Erysimum menziesii, an endangered plant restricted to vanishing native dune communities along the northern California coast. Some populations of the plant suffer from the disease and, although the wallflower has been the object of extensive research, the destructive effect of the disease has not been investigated. Both ecological and genetic studies are required. This research will closely examine the relationship between the wallflower and its disease to assess if disease has caused the plant to become endangered or is keeping the plant form recovering. In addition, the genetic diversity within both the plant and pathogen populations will be measured for three years and this will provide an indication if diversity is being maintained during conservation or if there is any change in the genetic structure. Many aspects of this research are unique. It is a collaborative effort between The California Nature Conservancy, a conservation management organization, and Michigan State University, a traditional basic research institution. This partnership will provide needed cooperative effort between basic science and applied conservation. By combining genetic studies with population monitoring, management options specifically for Menzies' wallflower will be addressed. In addition, this approach will introduce a generalized strategy to assess the impact of disease on other endangered plants. The results will provide the basis for future predictive mathematical models which can be used to evaluate how specific conservation activities would affect recovery. From this, conservationists will be able to choose between management options. Included with these applied aspects is the basic study of plant disease in natural populations. This project will expand the discipline by introducing a new type of model system, one with different attributes than those currently under study.