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Plants Annual recruitment was found to fluctuate in a cyclical fashion over the time ofobservation, with a period of roughly 3 - 4 years between peaks in seedlingnumbers. Years when no seedlings were seen did not necessarily signify that thepopulation had become extinct. Seeds shed in the immediate vicinity of parent plants were able to move shortdistances through the action of gravity, wind and water, but long-distancedispersal was not observed.Success of projectHighly Successful Successful Partially Successful FailureReasons for success/failure: Successful growth and regeneration of B. muelleri was observed in a newsatellite subpopulation over a period of 17 years. Years where no seedlings were seen were interspersed with years of goodregeneration, suggesting that recruitment may follow a regular cyclical patternindependent of rainfall. Prolific quantities of seed were produced when plants were plentiful, and shortdistanceseed movement encouraged population spread (Jusaitis et al., 2003). The establishment of a new sub-population of B. muelleri has spread the riskof localized catastrophic failures and reduced the chance of genetic erosion. The cooperation of the owners of Corunna Station in allowing this research tobe carried out on their property is gratefully acknowledged.ReferencesIUCN. (2001) IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1. IUCN SpeciesSurvival Commission. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.Jusaitis, M., Sorensen, B. & Polomka, L. (2003) Reproductive biology of theendangered Brachycome muelleri (Asteraceae), an endemic herb of EyrePeninsula, South Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 51: 179-188.Jusaitis, M., Polomka, L. & Sorensen, B. (2004) Habitat specificity, seedgermination and experimental translocation of the endangered herb Brachycomemuelleri (Asteraceae). Biological Conservation 116: 251-266.266

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