SPECIAL ISSUE CSIRO PUBLISHING Australian Journal of Botany, 2017, 65, 609–624 Review https://doi.org/10.1071/BT17096 Saving rainforests in the South Pacific: challenges in ex situ conservation Karen D. Sommerville A,H, Bronwyn Clarke B, Gunnar Keppel C,D, Craig McGill E, Zoe-Joy Newby A, Sarah V. WyseF, Shelley A. JamesG and Catherine A. Offord A AThe Australian PlantBank, The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Mount Annan, NSW 2567, Australia. BThe Australian Tree Seed Centre, CSIRO, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. CSchool of Natural and Built Environments, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia. DBiodiversity, Macroecology and Conservation Biogeography Group, Faculty of Forest Sciences, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. EInstitute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222 Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand. FRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst Place, RH17 6TN, United Kingdom. GNational Herbarium of New South Wales, The Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia. HCorresponding author. Email:
[email protected] Abstract. Rainforests in the South Pacific hold a considerable amount of plant diversity, with rates of species endemism >80% in some countries. This diversity is rapidly disappearing under pressure from logging, clearing for agriculture or mining, introduced pests and diseases and other anthropogenic sources. Ex situ conservation techniques offer a means to limit the loss of plant diversity. Seed banking is considered the most efficient and cost effective of these techniques but is applicable only to seed capable of tolerating desiccation and cold storage. Data on the degree of tolerance of these conditions was lacking for more than half of the 1503 South Pacific rainforest genera examined for this review.