Threatened plant translocation case study: Translocation 'success' is all about detection: Experiences with two threatened orchids from the Hunter Valley of NSW

Abstract

Two threatened terrestrial orchids (Diuris tricolor, Prasophyllum petilum) have been the subject of a major translocation program in the upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales. After up to eight years of monitoring and adaptive management, a number of lessons have been learnt that can be transferred to other orchid translocation projects. A key observation for any monitoring program is that the measurement of translocation success is all about the ability to detect translocated individuals: an absence of detection is not necessarily an indication of an absence of life.