[PCA] FYI: How successful are plant species reintroductions?

[Liz Fischer]

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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