Research in Brief
Translocations are being increasingly used in threatened plant recovery programs. The outcomes of past translocation programs have often been poorly documented
or unpublished. This makes it hard to learn from the past experiences, to adapt and improve techniques in response to outcomes or to determine if investments
have been worthwhile.
As the number of plant translocation projects increases, it is becoming increasingly important to evaluate the success of these translocations with meaningful and measurable criteria.
The project will develop criteria for measuring the success of plant translocation projects. It will also review the outcomes of past plant translocations and synthesise past research in order to develop best practice guidelines for plant translocation in Australia.
B. brownii. Photo: D. Coates
Why is the research needed?
Translocations of threatened plants have been carried out over the past three decades across southern Australia. This has included at least 1000 separate translocations, involving around 380 plant species.
However, despite the increasing focus on translocation, there has been little monitoring or assessment of whether these projects are achieving long-term success in terms of population persistence.
At the same time threats to plants and plant communities are becoming more severe and difficult to manage. They include habitat fragmentation, rapid environmental change, diseases, and invasive species. They present significant challenges to establishing viable new populations in threat-free habitats.
There has been insufficient synthesis of information about translocation generally, and evaluating and synthesising the current knowledge will provide
a critical resource for improving the success and status trajectory of threatened plant translocation. In particular, guidance criteria for establishment,
resilience and persistence are needed.
Further, developing criteria for translocation success that are adequate and measurable will allow change in a species’ conservation status to be assessed and provide a more rigorous foundation for recommending the down-listing or de-listing of a species.
Lambertia orbifolia. Photo: Anne Cochrane
How will the research help?
This project will provide on-ground practical guidance for how best to implement translocations of threatened plant species to maximise their recovery
and improve their conservation status. This guidance will be backed by rigorous evidence on the operational, ecological, genetic and environmental
factors influencing success or failure in translocation projects. It will also increase our capacity to monitor and measure the success of translocations
of threatened plant species.
The project will synthesise and analyse knowledge about past plant translocations, developing a national framework that builds on data held by state agencies,
NGO groups, community groups and researchers. It will also co-ordinate a review and updating of the current Guidelines for Translocation of Threatened
Plants in Australia, based on expert input from plant translocation practitioners across Australia.
The research will deliver improved conservation status for 17 EPBC-listed threatened plant species through experimental translocations. Criteria for success will be developed based on these case studies. The criteria will increase our ability to assess population viability and will provide a more rigorous foundation for recommending the down-listing or de-listing of threatened species when translocation has been successful. It will also explore other approaches to assess persistence and success based on molecular genetic and genomic techniques. These techniques can complement more traditional measures such as establishment, survival, vegetative growth, reproductive output and recruitment.
Leonie Monks, Rebecca Dillon and Sarah Barrett collecting seed from a Lambertia orbifolia translocation. Photo: Dave Coates
What research activities are being undertaken?
The project has six main parts:
- An evaluation and synthesis of current knowledge. A database of Australian plant translocations has been assembled through extensive expert consultation and literature review. A meta-analysis will examine the characteristics and distribution of translocationsand examine factors influencing their success.
- Field trials, to further understand and develop criteria to measure success. The refined success criteria can be used to confidentlyreassess the conservation status of species for consideration in downgrading or de-listing.
- Evaluation of alternative measures of translocation success and key factors for success involving biotic interactions. The project will explore molecular
genetic and translocation techniques to compare genetic variation between reintroduced and source populations, analyse mating system parameters
to determine inbreeding and infer pollinator behaviour, and investigate the importance of mycorrhizal associations in translocation success of
orchids and other species.
- Revision of the Guidelines for Translocation of Threatened Plants in Australia. The Australian Network for Plant Conservation published the Guidelines
in 2004, and it remains the only Australian synthesis of the best techniques and templates for translocations. The project will update the guidelines
and publish them online.
- Developing working examples of best practice translocation for threatened plants. These will be included in the Guidelines.
- Scoping the benefits of gene pool mixing for threatened plant translocations. The research will consider the benefits of mixing gene pools to increase
success through increasing genetic diversity.
Rebecca Dillon and Sarah Barrett at a Banksia brownii translocation. Photo: Leonie Monks
Who is involved?
The project is being led by the University of Queensland in close collaboration with Western Australia’s Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions,
the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne and South Australia’s Department for the Environment and Water.
Where is the research happening?
The research will include a nationwide review of threatened plant translocations. Targeted field work will also occur in Western Australia, South Australia
and Victoria.
When is the research happening?
The project will run for four years from 2016 to 2019.
Further information
For more information please contact: David Coates - dave.coates@dbca.wa.gov.au
Top image: Grevillea batrachioides Lesueur grevillea. Photo: Andrew Crawford
Related Projects
Threatened bird conservation in Murray-Darling Basin wetland and floodplain habitat
Project: 4.4.7
This project is designed to build a better understanding of how threatened bird species use the wetland and floodplain environments of the Murray–Darling Basin.
Identifying and managing refuges from threats
Project: 4.4
Refuges are important to many species, as they allow many species to survive environmentally stressful times, like droughts, fires and disease outbreaks. While fixed refuges like mountain tops can be easy to identify, many species rely on temporary refuges which move in time and space.
Threatened plant translocations
Project: 4.3
Translocations are being increasingly used in threatened plant recovery programs. The outcomes of past translocation programs have often been poorly documented or unpublished. This makes it hard to learn from the past experiences, to adapt and improve techniques in response to outcomes or to determine if investments have been worthwhile.
Protecting threatened quolls and other biodiversity on Kimberley islands from cane toads
Project: 4.2.5
This research will use existing data to predict future invasion by cane toads of Australian islands, particularly the Kimberley islands. This information is important for prioritizing surveillance action on these islands in order to conserve toad-sensitive species such as the endangered Northern Quoll.
Saving species on Australian islands
Project: 4.2
This project will help shape on-ground actions on Australian islands – which are havens for threatened species. It will develop information to more effectively protect Australia’s island biodiversity and create safe refuges for species at risk.
Enhancing ecosystem function by reintroductions of digging mammals
Project: 4.1.7
Many of Australia’s threatened species, such as bettongs and bandicoots, are considered ecosystem engineers due to the important functional role they provide in landscapes. Digging mammals can substantially influence ecosystem processes, such as soil turnover, litter decomposition and plant recruitment, by creating burrows for shelter or foraging pits when searching for food.
Can assisted gene flow increase the resilience of terrestrial-breeding frogs to a drying climate?
Project: 4.1.6.1
Assisted gene flow is an emerging method to aid species to adapt to new conditions, such as those created by climate change. It involves the movement of individuals (or their genes) from one population to another. This project will investigate whether assisted gene flow could enhance the resilience of two species of non-threatened amphibians from the south-west of Australia to increasingly dry conditions.
Improving conservation outcomes for critically endangered white-bellied frogs
Project: 4.1.4.3
White-bellied frogs are a critically endangered species that are endemic to the Margaret River region of Western Australia. The species has undergone continued population declines, despite careful management. This project will target knowledge gaps around factors contributing to population declines, as well as better resolve the specific habitat and hydrological requirements of this species.
Optimising the timing for assisting the colonisation of threatened montane frogs
Project: 4.1.4.2
In this project, we are developing optimisation models for two Endangered species (the northern corroboree frog, and Spencer’s tree frog) to determine the ideal timeframe for when each species could be relocated to suitable habitats that are currently outside their natural range.
Assisted colonisation of Australia’s rarest reptile: The western swamp turtle
Project: 4.1.4.2
One of Australia’s rarest reptiles, the western swamp turtle, is being challenged by the rapidly drying climate in the southwest of Western Australia, which continues to marginalise its already fragmented habitat. In a world first, this project is field-testing the viability of introducing this Critically Endangered species to wetlands more than 300km south of its native range, in an effort to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.
Learning from mammal translocations
Project: 4.1.3
Australian Wildlife Conservancy is undertaking a major project to re-establish populations of 10 regionally-extinct mammals, including nine threatened species, at Mt Gibson Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Australia. The reintroductions will integrate monitoring and research activities in order to improve the conduct of future reintroductions in Australia.
Reintroduction plan to rescue the northern eastern bristlebird
Project: 4.1.12
The ecologically unique northern population of the eastern bristlebird is among the most threatened Australia birds. This project will develop an emergency action plan that will guide on-the-ground actions to stop the decline, increase the wild population and directly improve long-term persistence.
Translocation, reintroduction and conservation fencing for threatened fauna
Project: 4.1
Whether moving species into fenced areas, intensively managed habitats or outside its previous habitat - translocating threatened species presents a number of challenges. This project will research the most feasible and cost-effective translocation strategies to boost the size and long-term viability of wild populations. This will include improved planning for, and implementation of, translocations of mammals, birds, reptiles and frogs.
Project Team
. Photo Credit Gail Pollard_WEB.jpg?Action=thumbnail&Width=200&Height=200&algorithm=fill_proportional){kind=spacer}
Publications & Tools
Project Partners
