Free Standard AU & NZ Shipping For All Book Orders Over $80!
Register      Login
Australian Journal of Botany Australian Journal of Botany Society
Southern hemisphere botanical ecosystems
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > BT > BT09040
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 57(5)

Using hierarchies of cause to inform conservation of a naturally rare but critically endangered shrub Lasiopetalum pterocarpum (Malvaceae s.l.)

C. F. Wilkins A , P. G. Ladd B D , B. J. Vincent C , A. D. Crawford C and L. W. Sage C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

B School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.

C Department of Environment and Conservation, Bentley, WA 6983, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: P.Ladd@murdoch.edu.au

Australian Journal of Botany 57(5) 414-424 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT09040
Submitted: 20 February 2009  Accepted: 16 June 2009   Published: 14 September 2009

Abstract

Understanding the causes of rarity and ways of managing populations of rare species is essential for their successful conservation. The present study applies the conceptual model of a hierarchy of causes to Lasiopetalum pterocarpum E.M.Benn. & K.Shep. (a critically endangered species) to understand better its reproductive and ecological attributes, possible reasons for its rarity and to determine whether this model assists in developing management strategies. L. pterocarpum subpopulations from Serpentine National Park were censused to record abundance, plant health, phenology, flower and fruit production and the presence of any seed bank. These characteristics were matched to criteria in the hierarchies of cause model. There was no evidence of recent seedling recruitment at any subpopulation. Hand-pollination produced a flower-to-fruit conversion proportion similar to that found in the field and self- and cross-pollinations produced virtually the same fruit set. Seed store in soil from beneath the native subpopulations and at a translocation site showed seed was patchily distributed and infrequent. L. pterocarpum is an obligate seeder, killed by fire and dependent on disturbance to break seed dormancy. However, smoke has no effect on germination. Seed production does not constrain population growth, because seedling regeneration after fire in 1999 was prolific at sites where plants had been growing. In the hierarchies of cause framework, the main causes of rarity for this species are taxon ecology, life-history strategy and stochasticity. Thus, concentrating active management on factors related to life history such as mosaic patch burning, fencing after fire to exclude vertebrate grazers, weed control and establishment of translocated populations will aid the preservation of this species in the wild.


Acknowledgements

Thanks go to the PERTH herbarium for access to specimens, Serpentine National Park rangers for advice and access, the Water Corporation of Western Australia for access at Serpentine Dam, Alan Wright for information about further locations of L. pterocarpum, and Wally Gibb and John Wilkins for field assistance. Gary Cass provided logistical support. The South West Catchment Council (Department of Environment and Conservation, Western Australia) provided Natural Heritage Trust funding to this project.


References


Abbott I (2003) Aboriginal fire regimes in south-west Western Australia: evidence from historical documents. In ‘Fire in ecosystems of South-west Western Australia: impacts and management’. (Eds I Abbott, N Burrows) pp. 119–146 (Backhuys Publishers: Leiden, The Netherlands)

Anonymous (1990) Munsell soil colour charts. (Macbeth, Newburgh, NY)

Baskin JM, Baskin CC (2004) A classification system for seed dormancy. Seed Science Research 14, 1–16.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Brown P , Allen D , Towers R (1997 ) Serpentine National Park Draft Management Plan. Department of Conservation and Land Management, National Parks and Nature Conservation Authority, Lands and Forest Commission, Perth, Australia.

Burne HM, Yates CJ, Ladd PG (2003) Comparative reproductive biology of the critically endangered shrub Grevillea althoferorum and two closely related more common congeners. Biological Conservation 114, 53–65.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Carson R (1962) ‘Silent spring.’ (Hamish Hamilton: London)

Clark JS , Gill AM , Kershaw AP (2002) Spatial variability in fire regimes: its effects on recent and past vegetation. In ‘Flammable Australia. The fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent’. (Eds RA Bradstock, JE Williams, MA Gill) pp. 125–141. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)

Clark KR , Warwick RM (2001) ‘Changes in marine communities: an approach to statistical analysis and interpretation.’ 2nd edn. (PRIMER-E Ltd: Plymouth, UK)

Coates DJ (2000) Defining conservation units in a rich and fragmented flora: implications for the management of genetic resources and evolutionary processes in south-west Western Australian plants. Australian Journal of Botany 48, 329–339.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Coates DJ, Hamley VL (1999) Genetic divergence and the mating system in the endangered and geographically restricted species Lambertia orbifolia Gardner (Proteaceae). Heredity 83, 418–427.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | PubMed | open url image1

Coates DJ, Carstairs S, Hamley VL (2003) Evolutionary patterns and genetic structure in localised and widespread species in the Stylidium caricifolium complex (Stylidiaceae). American Journal of Botany 90, 997–1008.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Crase B, Cowie ID, Michell CR (2006) Distribution and conservation status of the rare plants Melaleuca triumphalis and Stenostegia congesta (Myrtaceae), Victoria River district, northern Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 54, 641–653.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Crawford AD, Steadman KJ, Plummer JA, Cochrane A, Probert RJ (2007) Analysis of seed-bank data confirms suitability of international seed-storage standards for the Australian flora. Australian Journal of Botany 55, 18–29.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Cropper SC (1993) ‘Management of endangered plants.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne)

Dafni A (1992) ‘Pollination ecology.’ (Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK)

Elliott CP, Yates CJ, Ladd PG, Coates DJ (2002) Morphometric, genetic and ecological studies clarify the conservation status of a rare Acacia in Western Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 50, 63–73.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

FAO/IPGRI (1994) ‘Genebank standards.’ (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations/International Plant Genetic Resources Institute: Rome)

Fiedler PL , Ahouse JJ (1992) Hierarchies of cause: towards an understanding of rarity in vascular plant species. In ‘Conservation biology: the theory and practice of nature conservation management’. (Eds PL Fiedler, SK Jain) pp. 23–48. (Chapman and Hall: New York)

Gill AM (1981) Adaptive responses of Australian vascular plant species to fire. In ‘Fire and the Australian biota’. (Eds AM Gill, RH Groves, IR Noble) pp. 243–272 (Australian Academy of Science: Canberra)

Gove A (2006) Ant seed dispersal of a rare and a common Lasiopetalum species in the Serpentine region. Report for Department of Environment and Conservation, Perth.

Gilpin ME , Soulé ME (1986) Minimum viable populations: processes of species extinction. In ‘Conservation biology. The science of scarcity and diversity’. (Ed. ME Soulé) pp. 19–36. (Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA)

Heddle EM (1979) Mapping the vegetation of the Perth region. In ‘Western landscapes’. (Ed. J Gentilli) pp. 162–164. (University of Western Australia Press: Perth)

Herranz JM, Ferrandis P, Martinez-Sanchez JJ (1998) Influence of heat on seed germination of seven Mediterranean Leguminosae species. Plant Ecology 136, 95–103.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Hobbs RJ (2001) Synergisms among habitat fragmentation, livestock grazing, and biotic invasions in southwestern Australia. Conservation Biology 15, 1522–1528.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Hobbs RJ (2003) How fire regimes interact with other forms of ecosystem disturbance and modification. In ‘Fire in ecosystems of South-west Western Australia: impacts and management’. (Eds I Abbott, N Burrows) pp. 421–436. (Backhuys Publishers: Leiden, The Netherlands)

Hobbs RJ, Yates CJ (2003) Impacts of ecosystem fragmentation on plant populations: generalising the idiosyncratic. Australian Journal of Botany 51, 471–488.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Hoffmann BD, Andersen AN (2003) Responses of ants to disturbance in Australia, with particular reference to functional groups. Austral Ecology 28, 444–464.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Hopper SD, Gioia P (2004) The southwest Australian floristic region: evolution and conservation of a global hot spot of biodiversity. Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics 35, 623–650.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Houston TF, Ladd PG (2002) Buzz pollination in the Epacridaceae. Australian Journal of Botany 50, 83–91.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

James SH, Keighery GK, Moorress A, Waycott M (1998) Genomic coalescence in a population of Laxmannia sessiliflora (Angiospermae, Anthericaceae): an association of lethal polymorphism, self pollination and chromosome number reduction. Heredity 82, 364–372.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Lamont BB, Connell SW, Bergl SM (1991) Seed bank and population dynamics of Banksia cuneata: the role of time, fire and moisture. Botanical Gazette 152, 114–122.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Markey A (1997) A floristic survey of the northern Darling Scarp. Unpublished report to the Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management, The Western Australian Department of Environmental Protection and the Western Australian Conservation Council (Inc.), Perth, for the Heritage Commission.

Menotti-Raymond M, O’Brien SJ (1993) Dating the genetic bottleneck of the African cheetah. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 90, 3172–3176.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG, da Fonseca GAB, Kent J (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403, 853–858.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | open url image1

Pen LJ (1999) ‘Managing our rivers.’ (The Waters and Rivers Commission, Western Australia: Perth)

Prober SM, Bell JC, Moran G (1990) A phylogenetic and allozyme approach to understanding rarity in 3 green ash eucalypts (Myrtaceae). Plant Systematics and Evolution 172, 99–118.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Rabinowitz D (1981) Seven forms of rarity. In ‘The biological aspects of rare plant conservation’. (Ed. H Synge) pp. 205–217. (John Wiley: New York)

Shepherd KA, Bennett EM, Wilkins CF, Sage LW (2006) Lasiopetalum pterocarpum (Malvaceae s.l.: Lasiopetaleae), a new and rare species from south-west Western Australia. Nuytsia 16, 175–181. open url image1

Stack G , English V (2003) Wing-fruited lasiopetalum (Lasiopetalum pterocarpum ms). Interim Recovery Plan 2003–2008. Department of Conservation and Land Management, Government of Western Australia, Natural Heritage Trust, Perth.

Thanos CA, Georghiou K (1988) Ecophysiology of fire-stimulated seed germination in Cistus incanus ssp. creticus (L.) Heywood and C. salvifolius L. Plant, Cell & Environment 11, 841–849.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Whelan RJ , Rodgerson L , Dickman CR , Sutherland EF (2002) Critical life cycles of plants and animals: developing a process-based understanding of population changes in fire-prone landscapes. In ‘Flammable Australia. The fire regimes and biodiversity of a continent’. (Eds RA Bradstock, JE Williams, AM Gill) pp. 94–124. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK)

Witkowski ETF, Lamont BB (1997) Does the rare Banksia goodii have inferior vegetative or ecological attributes compared with its widespread co-occurring relative B. gardneri? Journal of Biogeography 24, 469–482.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Yates CJ, Ladd PG (2004) Breeding system, pollination and demography in the rare granite endemic shrub Verticordia staminosa ssp. staminosa in south-west Western Australia. Austral Ecology 29, 189–200.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Yates CJ, Ladd PG (2005) The relative importance of reproductive biology and establishment ecology for persistence of a rare shrub in a fragmented landscape. Conservation Biology 19, 239–249.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Yates CJ, Ladd PG, Coates DJ, McArthur S (2007) Hierarchies of cause: understanding rarity in an endemic shrub Verticordia staminosa C.Gardner and A.S.George (Myrtaceae) with a highly restricted distribution. Australian Journal of Botany 55, 194–205.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1