Moris’s pink re-introduction project in Sardinia, Italy

Summary

Moris's pink (Dianthus morisianus), Critically Endangered and found in the wild only on the Portixeddu coastal dune system in southwest Sardinia, has seen its single native population squeezed by decades of settlement and dune-stabilizing afforestation since the 1950s. Researchers at the Università degli Studi di Cagliari identified a protected site about 150 metres from the wild population, managed by Sardinia's forestry agency, for a reintroduction using nursery-grown juvenile plants, since seedling emergence and establishment are the species' most vulnerable life stages. Seeds collected from 50 wild plants each in 2008 and 2009 were germinated under controlled conditions and grown in pots filled with sand from the native habitat, with no supplemental horticultural treatment so plants would harden naturally before planting out. In November 2010, 113 surviving plants were reintroduced in nine groups spaced about 15 metres apart, sited according to available microhabitat, with a second reintroduction following in 2011 at an unprotected site. Monthly monitoring of marked plants found 96% first-year survival with all survivors still alive after 24 months; 40% and then 65% of plants became reproductive in their first and second years, producing more fruit per plant (3.84 and 7.97 on average) and more new seedlings (87 total) than the natural population. Difficulties included finding suitable dune microhabitat amid heavy human disturbance, grazing by domestic and wild animals, and Mediterranean summer drought. The project rates itself successful, citing high survival, strong reproductive rates exceeding the wild population, careful microhabitat and season selection, and the advantage of working on legally protected public land in partnership with local authorities.