Christella dentata is reborn

LOS BARRIOS (EuropaSur/Photo: by Imbala on Flickr) Christella dentata is a type of fern that had become extinct in Southern Spain, and especially in Los Alcornocales Nature Park, where the species was last seen in 2000. But all that has changed, since now it has been successfully re-established thanks to the work of the Laboratorio de Propagación Vegetal and the Nursery Network of Andalucía, both part of the Junta's Department of the Environment. They used a pioneering technique that involved germinating a variety of unidentified spores that had been collected in the last known place the fern had been traced. It took over a year of investigation and research but the first result was a surprise when it was found that some of the spores had turned into the 'extinct' Christella dentata.>Also known as Downy Wood Fern, the species is fairly common in the Far East and Australia but not in these parts any more.

 

Anyway, having made that discovery, the experts now had to create more plants, and then find the exact right place for them. Several such places were found and the plants began to be planted last Autumn. There is, sensibly, very little information about the exact location of the plats that have taken root and are carefully controlled and watched.
 

With a view to conserving the species and expand its genetic variety, it was decided to use sexual reproduction instead of spore germination, a much more complex method needing a great deal more time -from 1 to 3 years according to the species. This would allow for future projects of recovery of many if not most of the ferns in Los Alcornocales.
Ferns (pteridophites) are one of the planet's most primitive vegetation, some 65 million years old, when the climate in Andalucía was totally tropical. Yet ferns are also very adaptable, which accounts for their abundant presence in Los Alcornocales N.P., which is classified as only semi-tropical now. The experiment is about to be extended to other parks and protected areas of Andalucía.