Abstract
Conservation of Leucojum aestivum, a wetland-dependent species distributed in Europe and west Asia, should aim to reduce the fragmentation of wild stands, through the establishment of new populations. However, density-dependent dynamics occur in L. a estivum. For instance, fruit set and seed set increase with increasing plant density. In this study, we evaluate the effect of plant density on translocation success of two recently established populations of L. a estivum. Twenty-six populations of L. a estivum were investigated in northern Italy to find out differences in population traits (size, density, age structure, and reproductive performance) between populations from different habitats. Data obtained were used to establish two new populations of the species differing for population density (high H, mirroring the typical plant density of a wild population in Salix alba woods and low L, in which plant density was halved compared to H), to evaluate the role of density-dependent dynamics on the translocation success. 4 years after the translocation, H produced seedlings, while L did not. Moreover, H produced a significantly higher number of fruits per fruiting plant and higher fruit set. Seed set was also greater in H than in L, while mortality was greater in L than in H, but differences were not significant. Our results suggest that population density is an important factor to account for in newly established populations, especially in those species showing density-dependent population dynamics. Moreover, the imitation of successful within-population dynamics occurring in natural stable populations may increase the translocation success.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abeli T, Jäkäläniemi A, Wannas L, Mutikainen P, Tuomi J (2013) Pollen limitation and fruiting failure related to canopy closure in Calypso bulbosa (Orchidaceae), a northern food-deceptive orchid with a single flower. Bot J Linn Soc 171:744–750. doi:10.1111/boj.12014
Abeli T, Rossi G, Smolders AJP, Orsenigo S (2014) Nitrogen pollution negatively affects Stratiotes aloides in Central-Eastern Europe. Implications for translocation actions. Aquat Conserv 24:724–729. doi:10.1002/aqc.2497
Albrecht MA, McCue KA (2010) Changes in demographic processes over long time scales reveal the challenge of restoring an endangered plant. Restor Ecol 18:235–243. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100X.2009.00584.x
Ashman T-L, Knight TM, Steets JA, Amarasekare P, Burd M, Campbell DR et al (2004) Pollen limitation of plant reproduction: ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences. Ecology 85:2408–2421. doi:10.1890/03-8024
Aurambout JP, Endress AG, Deal BM (2005) A spatial model to estimate habitat fragmentation and its consequences of long-term survival of animal populations. Environ Monit Assess 109:199–225. doi:10.1007/s10661-005-6266-1
Ayan KA, Sait Kurtal E, Cüneit C, Kevseroglu K (2004) Bulb yield and some plant characters of summer snow flake (Leucojum aestivum L.) under shading as affected by GA3 and NAA at different concentrations. J Agron 3:296–300. doi:10.3923/ja.2004.296.300
Berkov S, Ivanov I, Georgiev V, Codina C, Pavlov A (2014) Galanthamine biosynthesis in plant in vitro systems. Eng Life Sci 14:643–650. doi:10.1002/elsc.201300159
Bilz M, Kell SP, Maxted N, Lansdown RV (2011) European red list of vascular plants. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg
Biondi E, Blasi C, Allegrezza M, Anzellotti I, Azzella MM et al (2014) Plant communities of Italy: the vegetation prodrome. Plant Biosyst 148:728–814. doi:10.1080/11263504.2014.948527
Bogdanova Y, Stoeva T, Yanev S, Pandova B, Molle E, Burrus M, Stanilova M (2009) Influence of plant origin on propagation capacity and alkaloid biosynthesis during long-term in vitro cultivation of Leucojum aestivum L. In vitro cell. Dev Plant 45:458–465. doi:10.1007/s11627-008-9178-2
Burd M (1994) Bateman’s Principle and plant reproduction: the role of pollen limitation in fruit and seed set. Bot Rev 60:63–139. doi:10.1007/BF02856594
Comita LS, Queenborough SA, Murphy SJ, Eck JL, Xu K, Krishnadas M, Beckman N, Zhu Y (2014) Testing predictions of the Janzen-Connell hypothesis: a meta-analysis of experimental evidence for distance- and density-dependent seed and seedling survival. J Ecol 102:845–856. doi:10.1111/1365-2745.12232
Cursach J, Rita J (2012) Reproductive biology and reproductive output assessment in natural and introduced subpopulations of Apium bermejoi, a ‘Critically Endangered’ endemic plant from Menorca (western Mediterranean). Nord J Bot 30:754–768. doi:10.1111/j.1756-1051.2012.01437.x
Dahlgren JP, Östergård H, Ehrlén J (2014) Local environment and density-dependent feedbacks determine population growth in a forest herb. Oecologia 176:1023–1032. doi:10.1007/s00442-014-3073-9
Dauber J, Biesmeijer JC, Gabriel D, Kunin WE, Lamborn E, Meyer B et al (2010) Effects of patch size and density on flower visitation and seed set of wild plants: a pan-European approach. J Ecol 98:188–196. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01590.x
Demier A (2014) Medical resource value appraisal for Leucojum aestivum in Turkey. Am J Alzheimers Dis 29:448–451. doi:10.1177/1533317514535334
Ellenberg H (1974) Zeigerwerte der Gefässpflanzen Mitteleuropas. Scripta Geobot 18:9–166
Ellenberg H (1988) Vegetation ecology of central europe, 4th edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Falk DA, Palmer MA, Zedler JB (2004) Foundations of restoration ecology. Island Press, Washington
Gehring TM, Swihart RK (2003) Body size, niche breadth, and ecologically scaled responses to habitat fragmentation: mammalian predators in an agricultural landscape. Biol Conserv 109:283–295. doi:10.1016/S0006-3207(02)00156-8
Godefroid S, Piazza C, Rossi G, Buord S, Stevens A, Aguraiuja R et al (2011) How successful are plant species reintroductions? Biol Conserv 144:672–682. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2010.10.003
Halsey SJ, Bell TJ, McEachern K, Pavlovic NB (2015) Comparison of reintroduction and enhancement effects on metapopulation viability. Restor Ecol 23:375–384. doi:10.1111/rec.12191
Hegland SJ (2014) Floral neighbourhood effects on pollination success in red clover are scale-dependent. Funct Ecol 28:561–568. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.12223
Hegland SJ, Boeke L (2006) Relationships between the density and diversity of floral resources and flower visitor activity in a temperate grassland community. Ecol Entomol 31:532–538. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2311.2006.00812.x
Kirchner F, Robert A, Colas B (2006) Modelling the dynamics of introduced populations in the narrow-endemic Centaurea corymbosa: a demo-genetic integration. J Appl Ecol 43:1011–1021. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2006.01179.x
Lammi A, Kuitunen M (1995) Deceptive pollination of Dactylorhiza incarnata : an experimental test of the magnet species hypothesis. Oecologia 101:500–503
Lande R (1998) Anthropogenic, ecological and genetic factors in extinction and conservation. Res Popul Ecol 40:259–269. doi:10.1007/BF02763457
Landolt E (1977) Ökologische Ziegerwerte zu Schweizer Flora. Veröff. Geobot. Inst. ETH, Stiftung Rübel, Zürich
Manzo A, Panseri S, Vagge I, Giorgi A (2014) Volatile fingerprint of Italian populations of orchids using solid phase microextraction and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Molecules 19:7913–7936. doi:10.3390/molecules19067913
Maschinski J, Haskins KE (2012) Plant reintroduction in a changing climate, promises and perils. Island press, Washington, DC
Menges ES (2008) Restoration demography and genetics of plants: when is a translocation succesful? Aust J Bot 56:187–196. doi:10.1071/BT07173
Paracchini ML, Bulgheroni C, Borreani G, Tabacco E, Banterle A, Bertoni D, Rossi G, Parolo G, Origgi R, De Paola C (2015) A diagnostic system to assess sustainability at a farm level, the SOSTARE model. Agr Syst 133:35–53. doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2014.10.004
Parolo G, Abeli T, Rossi G, Dowgiallo G, Matthies D (2011) Biological Flora of Central Europe: Leucojum aestivum L. Perspect Plant Ecol 13:319–330. doi:10.1016/j.ppees.2011.05.004
Poulsen JR, Osenberg CW, Clark CJ, Levey DJ, Bolker BM (2007) Plants as reef fish: fitting the functional form of seedling recruitment. Am Nat 170:167–183. doi:10.1086/518945
Rossi G, Montagnani C, Gargano D, Peruzzi L, Abeli T, Ravera S, et al. (eds) (2013) Lista Rossa della Flora Italiana. 1. Policy species e altre specie minacciate. Comitato Italiano IUCN e Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare
Sih A, Jonsson BG, Luikart G (2000) Habitat loss: ecological, evolutionary and genetic consequences. Trends Ecol Evol 15:132–134. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(99)01799-1
Steven JC, Waller DM (2007) Isolation affects reproductive success in low-density but not high-density populations of two wind-pollinated Thalictrum species. Plant Ecol 190:131–141. doi:10.1007/s11258-006-9196-2
Van der Meer S, Jacquemyn H (2015) Genetic diversity and spatial genetic structure of the grassland perennial Saxifraga granulata along two river systems. PLoS One 10(6):e0130463. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130463
Thuiller W (2007) Climate change and ecologist. Nature 448:550–552. doi:10.1038/448550a
Young A, Boyle T, Brown T (1996) The population genetic consequences of habitat fragmentation for plants. Trends Ecol Evol 11:413–418. doi:10.1016/0169-5347(96)10045-8
Warren RJ II, Bahn V, Bradford MA (2011) The interaction between propagule pressure, habitat suitability and density-dependent reproduction in species invasion. Oikos 121:874–881. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2011.20174.x
Waser NM, Campbell DR, Price MV, Brody AK (2010) Density-dependent demographic responses of a semelparous plant to natural variation in seed rain. Oikos 119:1929–1935. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2010.18429.x
Weed AS, Schwarzländer M (2014) Density dependence, precipitation and biological control agent herbivory influence landscape-scale dynamics of the invasive Eurasian plant Linaria dalmatica. J App Ecol 51:825–834. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12226
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful to V. Dominione, A. Morini, L. Zubani, S. Pedrini, E. Vegini, F. Nai Oleari, M. Cere, C. Albrecht and M.I. Manisco, (University of Pavia), M. Donati and L. Ghillani for their valuable contribution during field work. The authors thank D. Matthies (University of Marburg) for his precious suggestions during the study of wild populations. The authors thank E. Ottolini and E. Fior (LIFE07 NAT/IT/000499 “Pianura Parmense” Staff Members) for their logistic and practical support during the translocation. The authors are also grateful to A. Manzi and S. Panzeri (University of Milan) for the determination of VOC in flowers of L. a estivum. The translocation has received financial support from the LIFE + project 2007 NAT/IT/000499 “Pianura Parmense.”
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by Dr. Thomas Abeli and Prof. Kingsley Dixon.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abeli, T., Cauzzi, P., Rossi, G. et al. Restoring population structure and dynamics in translocated species: learning from wild populations. Plant Ecol 217, 183–192 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-015-0529-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-015-0529-x