Once Thought Extinct, Now Spreading Along Disturbed Track Margins: The Ecology of Wrinkled Buttons (Leiocarpa gatesii)

Abstract

Understanding plant responses to disturbance is critical for their management and conservation. Poor or misinterpreted data may lead to inefficient management and poor outcomes. Here, we review the disturbance ecology of an endangered plant and show that previous assumptions about its life history and disturbance response are incorrect. Wrinkled Buttons (Leiocarpa gatesii) is endemic to the Otway Ranges in Victoria, Australia. Once considered extinct, in recent decades it has increasingly been found colonising fuel breaks and disturbed track margins, where most known plants have been found. Track maintenance is identified as a threat in the species' National Recovery Plan, placing the agencies responsible for track maintenance in a difficult position. Existing information suggested that L. gatesii is a short-lived species that depends on a soil seed bank, released from dormancy by fire-related cues. In contrast, here we show that L. gatesii is a rhizomatous perennial, capable of re-shooting from fragments buried in soil moved by machinery. Its seeds germinate immediately with moisture and light, without promotion by smoke or heat. Comparison of transects on tracksides and within forests shows that L. gatesii is somewhat associated with tracksides, but not restricted to them, with many plants occurring in long-undisturbed forests. Plants on tracksides are more likely to be in flower, have more flowers per plant, and shorter stems, compared to forest plants. We suggest that the apparent extinction of L. gatesii, and the lack of records away from disturbed track margins, is a result of its low detectability when not in flower, rather than its disappearance into a soil seed bank. We discuss the practical implications of fire regime and track maintenance for the conservation of this species.