Conservation management of Australian sandalwood ( Santalum spicatum ): using experts and a review of knowledge to develop future research priorities

Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) is an ecologically important, economically valuable and culturally significant hemiparasitic plant, which is highly sought after for the aromatic oils contained within the heartwood. Naturally occurring populations occur across the rangelands and south-west agricultural region of Western Australia (WA) and the southern rangelands of South Australia. Due to historical over-harvesting, land-clearing, altered fire regimes, loss of seed-caching marsupials and overgrazing by introduced herbivores, sandalwood populations have declined across their range. As regeneration is now limited, some populations are threatened with extinction and active management is needed to secure their persistence. In order to inform future research and conservation management of Australian sandalwood in WA, we reviewed the literature to identify current knowledge gaps and then harnessed expert knowledge to: (1) define research topics based on these knowledge gaps; (2) define criteria for research prioritisation; and (3) score research topics. This process provided a consolidated and ranked account of key/critical research priorities that highlights the need to dedicate more resources to improve Australian sandalwood management to stabilise and conserve populations. Recommended research directions include better understanding genetic structure and gene flow; further evaluating ecological functional roles; better understanding threats and the effectiveness of threat mitigation; further characterising population condition, distribution and trends; exploring methods to enhance recruitment; identifying important habitat for targeted conservation; improving methods for population monitoring; and incorporating Traditional Owner knowledge into sandalwood research and future decision-making. Given the widespread and fragmented nature of Australian sandalwood, future efforts to conserve and protect this important species will require an integrated cross-tenure management approach.