Native grasses are key components for successful rehabilitation of most post-mining vegetation communities but germination is often low. We investigated 13 native grass species and found that poor germination of selected native grass species was due to (1) low percentage of seed fill, (2) low seed viability of filled seeds and/or (3) seed dormancy. Most of these species were found to exhibit at least one form of dormancy and half were found to have two dormancy mechanisms.

Fertilisation residues may influence individual and ecosystem aspects. Using the previously fertilized areas (N, P and Ca), we analysed possible leaf structural changes in a small Neotropical savannah shrub. We found that fertiliser residues decreased scleromorphy of the leaves of this species.

Plant mating systems can vary significantly in both space and time, influencing a range of processes critical for the persistence of plant populations in fragmented landscapes. Spatial and temporal mating-system variation was investigated in Banksia cuneata, a rare bird-pollinated shrub, with substantial spatio-temporal variation observed and a significant reduction in outcrossing found in disturbed populations. Temporal mating-system variation warrants increased consideration in assessing the effects of habitat fragmentation and the undertaking of translocation and restoration programs.

Wallum is the regionally distinct vegetation of Quaternary dunefields and beach ridge plains along the eastern coast of Australia. Wallum sand masses contain large aquifers, and previous studies have suggested that many of the plant species may be groundwater dependent, although the extent of this dependency is largely unknown. The present study examined the water relations of 15 representative wallum species on the lower north coast of NSW. Comparative differences in water relations could be loosely related to growth forms. A tree, Eucalyptus racemosa subsp. racemosa, and the majority of large shrubs (e.g. Banksia aemula) had low midday xylem water potential, osmotic potential and elasticity, and high water-use efficiency. In contrast, most small and medium shrubs had high midday xylem water potential, osmotic potential and elasticity, and low water-use efficiency. The results suggested that E. racemosa subsp. racemosa is likely to be groundwater dependent, and large shrubs such as B. aemula may also utilise groundwater. Both species are widespread in wallum, and therefore have the potential to play a role in monitoring ecosystem health where aquifers are subject to groundwater extraction.

Plant functional traits are features that represent ecological strategies and determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels and influence ecosystem properties. Variations in these traits have proven useful for tackling many important ecological questions at a range of scales, giving rise to a demand for standardised ways to measure them. This updated and expanded handbook retains the focus on clearly presented, widely applicable, step-by-step methods, and includes updated methods for traits previously covered as well as for new traits. This handbook has a better balance between whole-plant, leaf, root and stem, and regenerative traits, and has a particular emphasis on traits important for predicting species’ effects on key ecosystem properties.

Montane shrub-dominated wetlands are limited by seasonality of climate and low moisture index values at their northern distributional limit. Although landscape features are also of importance, they do not limit these northern occurrences. Predicted climate change and more frequent fires will cause a retraction of this wetland type further south and east.

Cook’s scurvy grass (Lepidium oleraceum) is a threatened coastal plant endemic to New Zealand. We surveyed wild populations on the South Island’s east coast for three common crop viruses: Turnip mosaic virus, Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) and Turnip yellows virus (TuYV). We show that crop viruses are almost ubiquitous in these populations and report the first record of L. oleraceum as a host for both CaMV and TuYV. The high incidence of virus infection throughout the study populations may make this system one of the first examples of introduced viruses affecting the conservation of a threatened plant species.

Widespread decline in the health of Mediterranean-type ecosystem (MTE) woodlands can result in low levels of natural regeneration. We undertook field trials over 3 years, with the aim of increasing revegetation success, finding that the mere addition of propagules did not ensure successful revegetation and that the addition of nutrient resources seems to be critical in terms of increasing early seedling establishment in some species. Without this type of information and management-intervention activities, such woodlands could suffer local extinction.

Elevated levels of inbreeding in impacted plant populations may reduce the genetic fitness of seeds and future resilience of populations founded by these seeds. We found that despite habitat disturbance, seeds from populations of tuart (Eucalyptus gomphocephala) showed largely unchanged levels of inbreeding, and this varied within populations more so than among populations. Results highlight the importance of sourcing seeds from multiple trees within populations for ecological restoration, and that habitat disturbance does not necessarily negatively impact the mating system.

Boundaries are critical zones for understanding the dynamics of savannahs and forests. We inferred the dynamics of a savannah–forest boundary in New Caledonia from the analysis of vegetation structure and composition. We propose different indicators to identify different phases of the boundary dynamics (stable and unstable phases).

Slow-growing desert tree species pose unique conservation challenges; their demography is driven by rare stochastic climatic events, remoteness of populations makes monitoring difficult and, consequently, their management is often information limited. In this paper we examine the population ecology of one such species, Acacia peuce. We provide insights as to how monitoring and modelling populations of such species may be achieved to facilitate adaptive management and conservation of this iconic arid-zone tree species.

Trifolium argentinense is an amphicarpic species. Amphicarpy is a rare mode of reproduction where aerial and subterranean seeds are produced by the same individual. Aerial flowers are cross-fertilised, have more anthers and produce more pollen and seeds than the subterranean flowers, which are necessarily self-fertilised. This species also reproduces vegetatively by stolons and storage roots. Amphicarpy and vegetative reproduction have different ecological functions; aerial seeds increase genetic variability, whereas subterranean seeds and storage roots ensure persistence under adverse conditions.

The pioneer plant Calluna vulgaris knows how to survive in one of the most extreme habitats, such as an active geothermal alteration field. Leaves of plants growing at different distances from geothermal hot spots showed a fine-tuned regulation of morpho-anatomical and physiological traits, underlining the plasticity of their complex adaptive response.

A wildfire on a rock outcrop in south-western Australia killed a population of Calothamnus rupestris Schauer. The species readily regenerated but the seed bank is likely to take ~14 years to recover. The risk of intense wildfires affecting fire-sensitive outcrop communities can be reduced by prescribed burning the surrounding forests.

Plant tissue-culture techniques are potentially useful for safeguarding the germplasm of rare or threatened taxa and have become increasingly popular for ex situ conservation. In the present study, an efficient in vitro clonal propagation protocol was described for S. kotschyana, which is a halophytic endemic and threatened species in Turkey. This regeneration protocol could be used for ex situ conservation of the species.

Increasing the above-ground biomass of Callitris endlicheri or C. glaucophylla did not negatively affect the number of species per plot. The number of species per plot remained unchanged under various densities of C. endlicheri and increased under moderate to higher densities of C. glaucophylla. The life form distribution of species changed under increasing densities of C. Glaucophylla, with herbaceous species becoming more prominent.

Some ecosystems burn more easily than others. The question is whether individual plants can benefit from the suicidal behaviour of burning intensely, rather than avoiding burning intensely and living to fight another day. I argue that there is no benefit from burning intensely.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relative importance of asexual v. sexual recruitment in the post-fire recovery in semiarid steppe on the Loess Plateau, China. The results showed that fire significantly increased offspring recruitment numbers, but not species richness. The increase in asexual recruitment after a fire made a major contribution to the increase in total offspring number.

Only limited numbers of plant species are pollinated by both wind and insects (ambophily), and whether and when ambophily is advantageous has not been studied well. The present study revealed that the pioneer plants Mallotus japonicus and M. wrayi are both ambophilous. Floral characteristics adapted to both wind and insect pollination indicated that ambophily is maintained in the two species for adaptive reasons. We also discuss potential factors related to the maintenance of ambophily in these two pioneer species.

Limitations in our capacity to establish the time since fire of long-unburnt stands constrains our understanding of the rate of development of ecosystem features. We used growth-ring counts and growth ring–size relationships to estimate the time since fire of Eucalyptus salubris woodlands in south-western Australia. The estimated age-class distributions provide a substantial advance on those derived from remote sensing, although there remains significant uncertainty in the true time since fire of stands burnt over 200 years ago.

The occurrence of dry rainforest species in subhumid climates in Australia has been attributed to them being more drought resistant than their close relatives from mesic rainforests and also to their preference for loamy soils. Our glasshouse study provides the first experimental support for these ideas; dry rainforest seedlings had higher drought survival than mesic congeners and mortality was generally lower on loamy than sandy soils. This supports the idea that drought resistance of seedlings can shape tree species distributions at regional scales.

Hybridisation is a common phenomenon in eucalypts, including artificial hybrids developed for forestry plantations; however, how trees are affected by this process varies. We examined the foliar chemistry of Corymbia hybrids and note that the species of the parents of a cross are important in determining the resulting chemistry of their offspring. This has implications for plant–insect herbivore interactions because this plant chemistry affects how insects find and consume trees.

High mountain ecosystems are vulnerable to the effects of climate warming and Australia’s alpine vegetation is particularly vulnerable. Between 2004 and 2010, we monitored vegetation changes in a warming experiment within alpine open grassy-heathland. Our results suggest that Australian alpine vegetation has a degree of resilience to climate change in the short to medium term (20–30 years). In the long term (>30 years), drought may be as important a determinant of environmental change in alpine vegetation as rising temperatures.

Ex-situ seed storage in gene banks has become an important tool for conserving threatened Australian plants; however, there is scant information about the seed longevity of most species. The seed viability equation was fitted to two contrasting Australian species, Eucalyptus erythrocorys F.Muell. (Myrtaceae) and Xanthorrhoea preissii Endl. (Xanthorrhoeaceae). A discussion of the fitting process and predictions of seed longevity are presented.

The height of a rain forest tree determines its position in the canopy, regulates access to light and is bounded by species maximum potential height at maturity. Rain forest communities vary in height relative to factors such as soil depth and exposure, and shifts in the performance of co-occurring species can occur under differing conditions of environment. Understanding how different species in communities respond to shifts in environmental conditions provides important insights into the ecological processes that influence community assembly.