[PCA] FYI: How successful are plant species reintroductions?
Liz Fischer
elizfischer at yahoo.com
Wed Mar 23 23:58:42 CDT 2011
How successful are plant species reintroductions?
by Sandrine Godefroid et al., Biological Conservation , Volume 144, Issue 2,
Pages 672-682.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V5X-51BWXVD-1&_user=3928936&_coverDate=02%2F28%2F2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000061806&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=3928936&md5=100869b37619964a662af414c5170c3a&searchtype=a
Reintroduction of native species has become increasingly important in
conservation worldwide for recovery of rare species and restoration purposes.
However, few studies have reported the outcome of reintroduction efforts in
plant species. Using data from the literature combined with a questionnaire
survey, this paper analyses 249 plant species reintroductions worldwide by
assessing the methods used and the results obtained from these reintroduction
experiments. The objectives were: (1) to examine how successful plant species
reintroductions have been so far in establishing or significantly augmenting
viable, self-sustaining populations in nature; (2) to determine the conditions
under which we might expect plant species reintroductions to be most
successful; (3) to make the results of this survey available for future plant
reintroduction trials. Results indicate that survival, flowering and fruiting
rates of reintroduced plants are generally quite low (on average 52%, 19% and
16%, respectively). Furthermore, our results show a success rate decline in
individual experiments with time. Survival rates reported in the literature are
also much higher (78% on average) than those mentioned by survey participants
(33% on average). We identified various parameters that positively influence
plant reintroduction outcomes, e.g., working in protected sites, using
seedlings, increasing the number of reintroduced individuals, mixing material
from diverse populations, using transplants from stable source populations,
site preparation or management effort and knowledge of the genetic variation of
the target species. This study also revealed shortcomings of common
experimental designs that greatly limit the interpretation of plant
reintroduction studies: (1) insufficient monitoring following reintroduction
(usually ceasing after 4 years); (2) inadequate documentation, which is
especially acute for reintroductions that are regarded as failures; (3) lack of
understanding of the underlying reasons for decline in existing plant
populations; (4) overly optimistic evaluation of success based on short-term
results; and (5) poorly defined success criteria for reintroduction projects.
We therefore conclude that the value of plant reintroductions as a
conservation tool could be improved by: (1) an increased focus on species
biology; (2) using a higher number of transplants (preferring seedlings rather
than seeds); (3) taking better account of seed production and recruitment when
assessing the success of reintroductions; (4) a consistent long-term monitoring
after reintroduction.
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