To prevent species from going extinct and to restore locally extinct species to conservation areas, conservationists have been attempting to create new populations of rue and endangered species. Such efforts are still at an early stage, with the basic methodology still being developed and many efforts resulting in failures or only modest success. The purpose of this work was to develop some general rules about how to carry out reintroduction efforts using four methods to create many new populations of eight perennial species. Our results demonstrate that the chances of success were greater when planting seedling and adult material rather than sowing seeds on the sites. Using larger adult material was more successful than using seedlings. Adult transplants also flowered and fruited right away, in contrast to plants derived from seeds, which rarely flowered even after several years. Digging up the site to expose the soil and reduce competition prior to sowing seed did not result in a greater establishment of seedlings. At many sites no plants survived at all, or success was low. These results emphasize the difficulties of establishing new plant populations. To increase the rate of success, attempts should utilize many sites, numerous seeds or plants, and various methods in order to develop a workable methodology for the species in question. Because of the difficulties of establishing new populations, conservation of rare and endangered species should first protect existing populations and only secondarily rely on reintroductions to ensure species survival.
