In 2010, a bright yellow fungal disease known as myrtle rust, which attacks trees and shrubs in the Myrtaceae family, was detected in Australia for the first time.
Now, new research published in Austral Ecology suggests a recently identified tree species known as the ‘zombie tree’ (Rhodamnia zombi) is at risk of being wiped out by the deadly disease.
The tree has been added to a growing list of species considered potentially critically endangered because of myrtle rust.
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The zombie tree grows in rainforests in the Burnett region of Queensland in the north-east of Australia. It is a small to medium-sized species with large, dark green leaves, flaky bark and white flowers.
Myrtle rust attacks and kills the tree’s young shoots, preventing it from growing and reproducing, which eventually causes it to die.
University of Queensland botanist and lead author of the study Rod Fensham says the zombie tree “did not have a name when it was first assessed in 2020, and since then 10 per cent of the trees have died and none of those remaining are producing flowers or fruit because of myrtle rust.”
It’s not just the zombie tree that is at risk. Without intervention, 17 species will be extinct within a generation, says Fensham, explaining that none of these species appear to have any resistance to myrtle rust.
However, he believes there is still hope for the zombie tree, with related species in the wider Rhodamnia genome displaying some myrtle rust resistance.
“A survival strategy starts with finding clean cuttings in the wild before myrtle rust attacks them and propagating them to grow at safe sites,” he says.
“So far seedlings are being grown by specialists in Lismore and Townsville which look promising, but they need to be constantly vigilant.
“Hopefully once they produce seed, lurking in the next generation of Rhodamnia zombi some resistance will become apparent.
“It is a rare opportunity to study this evolutionary process which has happened countless times in the wild over millennia.”
If successful, the team hopes to plant resistant individuals back into Queensland’s rainforests.
“It’s a long shot and ambitious but the species needs time and space without being constantly walloped by myrtle rust to hopefully express some resistance,” adds Fensham. “Left to its own devices, the trees in the wild really will be the living dead.”
Top image: Grongah National Park, Burnett region. Credit: Dean Orrick
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