Management and monitoring

Abstract

It is usually possible to define, at least in rough terms, the sorts of places where a particular plant species might be expected to occur: the rare gymnosperm Welwitschia mirabilis is only found in the mists of the Namib desert of south-western Africa, or willow trees (Salix species) along temperate waterways, for example. This is because each species can only successfully grow and reproduce within a certain, more or less limited, range of conditions, which define its so-called niche. In situ conservation in a genetic reserve requires that the quality and/or quantity of genetic diversity within a species at a site be maintained in the long term. For that to be possible, it is clearly necessary that the niche and adaptation of the species be understood as fully as possible, so that the conditions necessary for its success at the site can be maintained, by appropriate human intervention — ‘management’ – if necessary.