Have tubestock plantings successfully established populations of rare grassland species into reintroduction sites in western Victoria? Original Research Article

The introduction of plants into secure, managed reserves is seen as vital to the conservation of many grassland species that are now confined to small, fragmented remnants in western Victoria, Australia. The survival (>5 yrs after planting) of reintroduction plantings conducted at three sites were assessed and success related to plant and site attributes. Of the 151 plant populations, 48 species and 10 699 plants introduced by tubestock plantings to these sites over the period 1985–1992, 48 plant populations, 19 species and 1285 plants remained at November 1997. No single plant or site attribute explained success or failure across the sites, suggesting that reintroductions will present many novel challenges to practitioners. Interestingly, threatened species proved no more difficult to establish than non-threatened species. Second generation seedling recruitment was exceedingly rare: only five species in a total of 16 populations produced successful seedling cohorts and only three species (Acaena echinata, Caesia calliantha and Podolepis sp. aff. jaceoides) are considered to be established in at least one site. Failure of most populations to recruit threatens the long-term persistence of reintroduced plantings and suggests that the conservation and management of remnant populations in situ remains crucial to the survival of these species in natural habitats. Determining the requirements for seedling recruitment of reintroduced populations presents a major challenge to ecologists. Without this knowledge, plant reintroductions in western Victorian grasslands, and their implicit role as a conservation tool, are likely to remain problematic.