Serendipity during long-term monitoring of translocation trials

Abstract

An essential component of all translocation projects is the monitoring of outcomes and evaluation of processes after planting has taken place. Monitoring goals and objectives are usually formulated early in the translocation planning process based on available knowledge of the species' biology and ecology. However, nature is rarely predictable, and occasionally unexpected and even surprising observations can be made during the course of long-term monitoring that may be missed altogether in the short-term. Such serendipitous observations may be readily explainable, or may lead to further experimentation or extended monitoring in order to understand their underlying mechanisms. I have experienced several examples of such serendipity in the course of long-term monitoring of translocation trials in South Australia, and will briefly discuss four of them here. None of these outcomes were predicted to occur in the way they did when the translocation trials were first planned or set up, and each one was revealed only after a significant period of consistent and regular monitoring.