Recent ecological observations on growth rates and seed production in Isopogon prostratus (Proteaceae), a little-known prostrate shrub from south-eastern NSW and Victoria

摘要

Observations on the longevity and ecology of Isopogon prostratus McGill. (Proteaceae) based on 1985 and 2009 field measures on Newnes Plateau, near Lithgow, and a seed germination trial are provided. Its survival strategy appears to be that of a stress-tolerator with long-term persistence at (relatively few) suitable sites, and it remains a relatively rare plant. It is conjectured that it is likely to have been a species of greater abundance in the drier, colder and generally treeless conditions of the Newnes Plateau 15-20 000 years ago, but, as conditions became warmer and wetter it has become reduced to isolated populations as taller shrubs outcompeted it for light.