Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate
Promises and Perils
Promises and Perils
432 pages
7 x 10
36 illustrations
Book Description
Considered an essential conservation tool, plant reintroductions have been conducted for many of the world's rarest plant species. The expertise and knowledge gained through these efforts constitute an essential storehouse of information for conservationists faced with a rapidly changing global climate.
This volume presents a comprehensive review of reintroduction projects and practices, the circumstances of their successes or failures, lessons learned, and the potential role for reintroductions in preserving species threatened by climate change. Contributors examine current plant reintroduction practices, from selecting appropriate source material and recipient sites to assessing population demography.
The findings culminate in a set of Best Reintroduction Practice Guidelines, included in an appendix. These guidelines cover stages from planning and implementation to long-term monitoring, and offer not only recommended actions but also checklists of questions to consider that are applicable to projects around the world.
Traditional reintroduction practice can inform managed relocation-the deliberate movement of species outside their native range-which may be the only hope for some species to persist in a natural environment. Included in the book are discussions of the history, fears, and controversy regarding managed relocation, along with protocols for evaluating invasive risk and proposals for conducting managed relocation of rare plants.
Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate is a comprehensive and accessible reference for practitioners to use in planning and executing rare plant reintroductions.
Review Quotes
"will serve as a very useful resource for anyone interested or involved in the management of rare plants."
Restoration Ecology
"A must read for those interested in [managed relocation]... There is more than enoughsubstance in this text to warrant a place on any conservation, restoration, landscape, or geographical ecologist's bookshelf."
Landscape Ecology
"A solid and core addition for science and environmental collections, Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate is not to be overlooked."
Midwest Book Review
"This is an extremely important book which needs to be widely read and more importantly used as stimulus for debate so that we can decide upon the policy and actions which will be required to manage environments and to conserve biodiversity in the future."
Ecological Management and Restoration
"...this work will certainly be heavily used and referenced by diverse readers around the world."
Chicago Botanic Garden Lenhardt Library Current Books
"Governments worldwide have committed to restoring at least 15 percent of the world's degraded ecosystems by 2020. Plant reintroduction is a vital component of this effort, putting the right species back in the right places. This book is essential reading for all who would join the global task of restoring the earth."
Sara Oldfield, Secretary General, Botanic Gardens Conservation International
"Plant Reintroduction in a Changing Climate provides a timely and comprehensive review of the science of restoring rare plant species. In our changing world, the threats to plants, and the need for restoration, are both rapidly increasing. This volume provides some of the best thinking on the design and implementation of reintroduction projects and belongs on the bookshelves of all those working to stem the losses of plant biodiversity."
Kayri Havens, Director, Plant and Science Conservation, Chicago Botanic Garden
Contents
Boxes
Foreword \ Peter H. Raven
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Introduction \ Joyce Maschinski and Kristin E. Haskins
PART I. Review of Plant Reintroductions
Chapter 2. Characterizing Two Decades of Rare Plant Reintroductions \ Edward O. Guerrant Jr.
Chapter 3. A Meta-Analysis of Threatened Plant Reintroductions from across the Globe \ Sahra E. Dalrymple, Esther Banks, Gavin B. Stewart, and Andrew S. Pullin
PART II. Reintroduction Science and Practice
Chapter 4. The Critical Role of the Public: Plant Conservation through Volunteer and Community Outreach Projects \ Joyce Mschinski, Samuel J. Wright, and Caroline Lewis
Chapter 5. Genetic Considerations in Rare Plant Reintroduction: Practical Applications (or How Are We Doing?) \ Jennifer Ramp Neale
Chapter 6. Transitioning Plants to New Environments: Beneficial Applications of Soil Microbes \ Kristin E. Haskins and Valerie Pence
Chapter 7. Optimal Locations for Plant Reintroductions in a Changing World \ Joyce Maschinski, Donald A. Falk, Samuel J. Wright, Jennifer Possley, Julissa Roncal, and Kristie S. Wendelberger
Chapter 8. Strategic Decisions in Conservation: Using Species Distribution Modeling to Match Ecological Requirements to Available Habitat \ Crystal Krause and Deana Pennington
Chapter 9. Using Population Viability Analysis to Plan Reintroductions \ Tiffany M. Knight
Chapter 10. Influence of Founder Population Size, Propagule Stages, and Life History on the Survival of Reintroduced Plant Populations \ Matthew A. Albrecht and Joyce Maschinski
Chapter 11. Determining Success Criteria for Reintroductions of Threatened Long-Lived Plants \ Leonie Monks, David Coates, Timothy Bell, and Marlin Bowles
Chapter 12. Unique Reintroduction Considerations in Hawaii: Case Studies from a Decade of Rare Plant Restoration at the Oahu Army Natural Resource Rare Plant Program \ H. Kapua Kawelo, Susan Ching Harbin, Stephanie M. Joe, Matthew J. Keir, and Lauren Weisenberger
PART III. Managed Relocation
Chapter 13. Managed Relocation: Panacea or Pandemonium? \ Kristin E. Haskins and Brian G. Keel
Chapter 14. Is Managed Relocation of Rare Plants Another Pathway for Biological Invasions? \ Sarah Reichard, Hong Liu, and Chad Husby
PART IV. Synthesis and Appendices
Chapter 15. Synthesis and Future Directions \ Kathryn Kennedy, Matthew A. Albrecht, Edward O. Guerrant Jr., Sarah E. Dalrymple, Joyce Maschinski, and Kristin E. Haskins
Appendix 1. Center for Plant Conservation Best Reintroduction Practice Guidelines \ Joyce Maschinski, Matthew A. Albrecht, Leonie Monks, and Kristin E. Haskins
Appendix 2. Studies Used for Meta-analysis \ Edward O. Gueerant Jr., Matthew A. Albrecht, and Sarah E. Dalrymple
Glossary
Literature Cited
Index
Blogs
Potted specimens of Lakela’s Mint flowering in the greenhouse at BTG.
Bok Tower Gardens staff and volunteers recording demographic data on Lakela’s Mint in Indian River County.
Flowering specimen of Lakela’s Mint in the greenhouse at BTG.
Conservation Efforts for the Rare Lakela’s Mint, Dicerandra immaculata
This unique member of the mint family (Lamiaceae) is found only in Indian River and St. Lucie County. It is a short-lived perennial with showy pink flowers that bloom in the fall that are pollinated by bees. Lakela’s Mint is one of six species of Dicerandra, each of which are endemic to only Florida and have their own unique minty aroma arising from a particular mixture of essential oils that are produced in glandular capsules on their leaf surfaces. The entire range of Lakela’s Mint is only a one-half mile wide by three mile long area in remnant scrub habitat, most of which has been converted to housing, commercial development, roads or railways.
Potted specimens of Lakela’s Mint flowering in the greenhouse at BTG.
Lakela’s Mint likely once occurred as one large contiguous meta-population within this area, but is now fragmented into five small, reproductively isolated colonies, each of which continues to decline in plant number due to overgrowth of competitive plant species and continued developmental pressure. The current estimate is that there are less than 10,000 individuals remaining. Partnering with St. Lucie County and Indian River County biologists, and with funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the state of Florida, Bok Tower Gardens has worked since 2002 to help conserve this species. Conservation efforts have included surveying each population annually to track the rate of increase or decrease in the remaining number of plants of this species, collecting seeds or cuttings from each population to preserve both seeds and living specimens in the Center for Plant Conservation’s National Collection, introducing a new population onto protected county property, augmenting a small population with additional plants and collecting quarterly demographic data on two populations.
Bok Tower Gardens staff and volunteers recording demographic data on Lakela’s Mint in Indian River County.
Based on data collected in early 2012, the forecast for the species looks promising. The introduced population is growing steadily. Seeds and specimens from all historically known sites, including some which are now extirpated, are now represented in the National Collection, so the unique genetic diversity of each will not be lost. Demographic data has been collected for a full five years on Lakela’s Mint, allowing a greater understanding of its response to events such as hurricanes and droughts, its average lifespan and lifecycle, and the amount of seedlings which naturally recruit each year and survive to become reproductive adults.
Flowering specimen of Lakela’s Mint in the greenhouse at BTG.
Although it will take years of continued efforts to truly understand and conserve, this species now has a good chance of persisting a little while longer.
