Abstract Erica turgida, a small unassuming pink bushy heath species was listed as ‘Extinct in the Wild’ in 1996. It was last seen in habitat at Kenilworth Racecourse by South African botanist, Elsie Esterhuizen who made an herbarium collection and gave material for propagation to Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. It once occurred in small patches on the lowlands around the city of Cape Town now commonly known as the Cape Flats. However, colonial agricultural settlements, and more recently industrial development and urban expansion, have led to the decline and ultimate loss of this species in the wild. Erica turgida has since then been kept from extinction by Kirstenbosch horticulturists and the Millennium Seed Bank Project. Fortuitously, a second collection was found in the collections of the Belvedere Palace Garden in Vienna and returned to South Africa in 2001. Its re-introduction to the remaining conserved natural areas of Cape Flats Sand Fynbos, a Critically Endangered vegetation type, proved challenging as it is a relatively short-lived species and no definitive record exists of its preferred niche habitat. Early attempts to reintroduce Erica turgida at Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area and Rondevlei Nature Reserve failed however limited success has been achieved at Tokai which is under the management of the South African National Parks. This paper shows how over a period of 30 years this Erica species has been propagated from cuttings, planted in numerous micro habitats and monitored for survival and recruitment. General protocols for placement of plants and timing of restoration have also been developed and are explained in this paper. This work has contributed towards the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation targets 4, 5, 7, 8, 14 and 16 for the South African National Biodiversity Institute and Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

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返回 Erica turgida 的经验教训

摘要 Erica turgida，一种不起眼的粉红色灌木石南花，1996 年被列为“野外灭绝”。南非植物学家 Elsie Esterhuizen 最后一次在凯尼尔沃思赛马场的栖息地看到它，他收集了植物标本，并提供了繁殖材料。康斯坦博斯植物园。它曾经发生在开普敦市周围低地的小块土地上，现在通常被称为开普敦。然而，殖民农业定居点，以及最近的工业发展和城市扩张，导致该物种在野外数量减少并最终消失。从那时起，Kirstenbosch 园艺家和千年种子库项目就阻止了 Erica turgida 的灭绝。偶然，在维也纳的丽城宫花园的藏品中发现了第二个藏品，并于 2001 年返回南非。将其重新引入至极危植物类型 Cape Flats Sand Fynbos 的剩余自然保护区，证明具有挑战性，因为它是一种寿命相对较短的物种，其首选的生态位栖息地没有明确的记录。在凯尼尔沃思赛马场保护区和 Rondevlei 自然保护区重新引入 Erica turgida 的早期尝试失败了，但在南非国家公园管理下的 Tokai 取得了有限的成功。本文展示了在 30 年的时间里，这种 Erica 物种是如何从扦插繁殖、种植在众多微型栖息地中并对其生存和补充进行监测的。还制定了植物放置和恢复时间的一般协议，并在本文中进行了解释。这项工作为南非国家生物多样性研究所和皇家植物园邱园的全球植物保护战略目标 4、5、7、8、14 和 16 做出了贡献。