Establishment success of 25 rare wetland species introduced into restored habitats is best predicted by ecological distance to source habitats

Noël, F; Prati, D; van Kleunen, M; Gygax, A; Moser, D; Fischer, M

Establishment success of 25 rare wetland species introduced into restored habitats is best predicted by ecological distance to source habitats

Noël, F Prati, D van Kleunen, M Gygax, A Moser, D Fischer, M

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Biological Conservation, 2011, 144 (1), pp. 602 - 609
Issue Date:: 2011-01-01

Closed Access

	Filename	Description	Size
	2010004789OK.pdf		328.68 kB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Closed Access

This item is closed access and not available.

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Noël, F	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Prati, D	en_US
dc.contributor.author	van Kleunen, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Gygax, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Moser, D	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Fischer, M	en_US
dc.date.issued	2011-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Biological Conservation, 2011, 144 (1), pp. 602 - 609	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0006-3207	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/18137
dc.description.abstract	In response to ongoing local extinction of species and the current biodiversity crisis, the number of reintroduction programs aiming to establish new populations of rare species in the wild has increased. However, only a small proportion of these programs has been planned and monitored scientifically and comparative multi-species studies are missing in this context. Therefore, the relative importance of factors involved in reintroduction success is poorly known. In 2007, we assessed population growth since introduction as a measure of establishment success of 25 wetland species (rare or extinct in the wild nationwide) and a total of 50 populations in Switzerland that had been introduced at seven restored sites with apparently adequate environmental conditions between 1997 and 2005. We related establishment success to 32 life-history traits of these species obtained from the BiolFlor database, to initial number of introduced plants (propagule pressure with 1-130 individuals introduced per population), and to the ecological distance between source sites and restored sites based on vegetation records. Our results clearly showed the importance of close ecological similarity between source and introduction sites for successful establishment of wetland species into restored pond habitats. In contrast, neither life-history traits nor propagule pressure were related to establishment success in our study. Based on our results, we strongly recommend enforcing ecological studies prior to reintroduction to accurately assess the suitability of restored sites. To unambiguously assess the key determinants of successful establishment, future reintroduction programs should be set-up according to experimental designs. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Biological Conservation	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.biocon.2010.11.001	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Ecology	en_US
dc.title	Establishment success of 25 rare wetland species introduced into restored habitats is best predicted by ecological distance to source habitats	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	1	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	144	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
utslib.for	05 Environmental Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	06 Biological Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	07 Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences	en_US
dc.location.activity	WOS:000287168100065	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	1	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	144	en_US

Abstract:

In response to ongoing local extinction of species and the current biodiversity crisis, the number of reintroduction programs aiming to establish new populations of rare species in the wild has increased. However, only a small proportion of these programs has been planned and monitored scientifically and comparative multi-species studies are missing in this context. Therefore, the relative importance of factors involved in reintroduction success is poorly known. In 2007, we assessed population growth since introduction as a measure of establishment success of 25 wetland species (rare or extinct in the wild nationwide) and a total of 50 populations in Switzerland that had been introduced at seven restored sites with apparently adequate environmental conditions between 1997 and 2005. We related establishment success to 32 life-history traits of these species obtained from the BiolFlor database, to initial number of introduced plants (propagule pressure with 1-130 individuals introduced per population), and to the ecological distance between source sites and restored sites based on vegetation records. Our results clearly showed the importance of close ecological similarity between source and introduction sites for successful establishment of wetland species into restored pond habitats. In contrast, neither life-history traits nor propagule pressure were related to establishment success in our study. Based on our results, we strongly recommend enforcing ecological studies prior to reintroduction to accurately assess the suitability of restored sites. To unambiguously assess the key determinants of successful establishment, future reintroduction programs should be set-up according to experimental designs. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/18137