CULTURALLY INDUCED RARITY - THE PAST AND PRESENT DISTRIBUTIONS OF LEUCOCHRYSUM ALBICANS IN TASMANIA

Herbarium records indicate that the endangered straw daisy, Leucochrys um albicans (syn. Helipterum albicans), is less widespread and rarer i n Tasmania today than in the past. Currently it has a sparse distribut ion within a relatively wide ecological range, which spans most of the climatic variation in Tasmania, hut which does not include poorly dra ined or infertile soils. There is evidence of recent local extinctions and invasions. These and the nature of the local environments in whic h the species occurs indicate that the species requires freedom from c ompetition for the maintenance of its populations. Cultural activities , such as heavy stock grazing or bulldozing, promote its establishment and survival, whereas the establishment of healthy improved pasture o r the exclusion of grazing from native pasture tend to lead to its exc lusion or demise. The future of the species may thus largely depend on cultural activities that are usually regarded as antipathetic to natu re conservation.