Distribution, Ecology and Rarity of the Nationally Vulnerable Species Pultenaea selaginoides (Fabaceae)

Abstract

Pultenaea selaginoides Hook.f. (Fabaceae) is a Tasmanian endemic shrub classified as nationally vulnerable. Only four populations of P. selaginoides totalling fewer than 1000 individuals are known to be extant, and one of these populations consists of only six individuals. The habitat of P. selaginoides is restricted to sites in flood-prone, riparian areas or coastal ridgelines subject to cloud-lie and runoff retention. However, there appears to be unoccupied habitat available. Pultenaea selaginoides can resprout or coppice after disturbance or regenerate from the soil stored seed bank. Most populations are producing seed, and large quantities may be produced. Germination of the seed can be induced by short-term temperatures of 60–100°C. Only the largest population is formally reserved, but all sites should be managed for the perpetuation of P. selaginoides. Because of the narrowness of its distribution, its low total population size, its innate seed dormancy, the ageing of most of the populations, and the uncertaintpy about the precise causes of its rarity, P. selaginoides should continue to be regarded as vulnerable to extinction.