Reintroduction of key plant species to habitats where they became locally extinct contributes to the restoration of biodiversity and ecological functions of the natural ecosystem. The dwarf cattail (Typha minima Funck ex Hoppe) is a pioneer plant, adapted to newly formed gravel- and sand bars of free-flowing rivers, and it is an indicator species of rivers with natural hydro-morphological sediment dynamics and a changing riverbed. In the last decades, it has disappeared from known sites on the banks of the Drava River near Varaždin, Donja Dubrava and Legrad, and therefore its reintroduction was planned and carried out within the framework of the DRAVA LIFE project. Pieces of rooted rhizomes of the dwarf cattail originating from the upper sections of the Drava River in Austria were planted on three occasions (2018, 2019 and 2024) at selected locations near the Drava-Mura confluence. Monitoring revealed that most plants (83% from the total of 1285), did not survive long-term floods; they were buried by sediments or carried away by strong currents. From the 17% of plants that survived the floods, 9% were dug up by wild boars. Only about 8% of the plants survived until the end of the year in which they were planted. Despite the lower rate of success, the reintroduction of this species should be continued by planting rhizomes or seedlings in micro-locations with potentially more favourable conditions, such as newly restored Drava side arms, where the river dynamics is more moderate, and the newly created bare surfaces are potentially suitable habitats.
Purger et al. (Thu,) studied this question.