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A preliminary assessment of changes in plant-dwelling insects when threatened plants are translocated

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Abstract

Translocation of threatened species is a tool used increasingly to conserve biodiversity, but the suite of co-dependent species that use the threatened taxa as hosts can be overlooked. We investigate the preliminary impact of translocating three threatened plant species on insect species and the integrity of insect assemblages that depend on these plants as their hosts. We compare the insect assemblages between natural populations of the threatened species, related non-threatened plant species growing wild near the threatened plants, and threatened plants translocated to another site approximately 40 km away. We used host breadth models and a coextinction risk protocol to determine which insect species are potentially host-specific on the threatened plants, and then assessed these insects’ potential presence at the translocation site. We found that insect assemblages on naturally-occurring threatened plants had more individuals, higher species density and higher species richness than assemblages on translocated plants. For one plant species, Leucopogon gnaphalioides, species composition differed significantly between wild and translocated populations (P < 0.001). Furthermore, four insect species that were host-specific to Banksia brownii and B. montana were not detected on the translocated plants. Instead, translocated plants supported insect assemblages more similar to those of related plant species from the surrounding area. We conclude that threatened plant translocations that involve seed collection and propagation may have limited benefit for individual dependent species or the supported insect assemblage. Additional conservation actions will be required to maintain the diversity of insect assemblages and host-dependent relationships.

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Acknowledgments

Grants from the Australian Research Council (DP0772057) and Australia & Pacific Science Foundation (APSF 07/3) supported this work. We thank P. Luscombe for his enthusiasm in the translocation experiment conducted on his property, and assistance with plant identifications. We gratefully thank B. Hanich, R. Oberprieler, G.S. Taylor, A. Szito, P.J. Gullan, S. Barker and C.A.M. Reid for taxonomic assistance. Finally, two anonymous reviewers and Editor T. Shreeve are thanked for their time and useful suggestions on this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Botany, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Melinda L. Moir, Peter A. Vesk & Michael A. McCarthy

  2. Western Australian Department of Environment & Conservation, PO Box 10173, Kalgoorlie, WA, 6430, Australia

    Karl E. C. Brennan

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Lesley Hughes

  4. NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, PO Box 1967, Hurstville, NSW, 2220, Australia

    David A. Keith

  5. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    David A. Keith

  6. Western Australian Department of Environment & Conservation, Locked Bag 104, Bentley DC, WA, 6983, Australia

    David J. Coates

  7. Western Australian Department of Environment & Conservation, 120 Albany Hwy, Albany, WA, 6330, Australia

    Sarah Barrett

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  1. Melinda L. Moir
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  2. Peter A. Vesk
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  4. Lesley Hughes
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Correspondence to Melinda L. Moir.

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Moir, M.L., Vesk, P.A., Brennan, K.E.C. et al. A preliminary assessment of changes in plant-dwelling insects when threatened plants are translocated. J Insect Conserv 16, 367–377 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-011-9422-7

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