Reintroduction of Jurinea

Species reintroduction: Material preparation, sowing and transplanting

Aim: To establish new, viable populations of Jurinea cyanoides at historical local sites in Czechia and Germany using controlled sowing and transplantation methods.

• Clean and process harvested seeds from selected ex-situ cultures or natural populations based on WP 3 recommendations.
• Test seed viability and germination rates under controlled growth-chamber conditions (under WP 8).
• Germinate seeds in greenhouses using sand substrate.
• Cultivate juvenile plants in pots within experimental gardens (IBOT) to prepare plants for field transplantation.
• Select semi-shaded microhabitats for sowing and planting to mitigate the impacts of increasing summer droughts.
• Sow seeds in marked grid plots (2 m x 2 m plots, 50 seeds per plot) and in rows spaced 50 cm apart following the established methodology (Tischew et al., 2017).
• Establish unseeded control plots in identical layouts to evaluate reintroduction success.
• Transplant tagged juvenile plants to field sites in autumn to avoid summer heat and drought stress.
• Identify and secure additional historical or suitable alternative sites in Saxony-Anhalt if possible.
• Tag all established plants with individual numbers to monitor their fitness (under WP 8).