Short Report Artificial dispersal of the lichen Crocodia aurata (Lobariaceae) using asexual propagules and gel-filled gauze packets Nadine Leddy 1 , Dan J. Blanchon 2 , Charmaine Wiapo 3 , Tamia Eruera 4 , Kristie E. Cameron 5 and Richelle Kahui- McConnell 6 1 Ngati Whatua Kaipara, Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand. Email: nadineleddy@hotmail.com; 2 Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand. Email: dblanchon@unitec.ac.nz; 3 Ngati Whatua, Te Uri o Hau, Uru Whakaaro Ltd., Auckland, New Zealand. Email: charmaine@uru.nz; 4 Ngati Whatua  Orakei, Orakei, Auckland, New Zealand. Email: Tamiaeruera213@gmail.com; 5 Environmental and Animal Sciences, Unitec Institute of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand. Email: kcameron@unitec.ac.nz; 6 Ngati Maniapoto, Mealofa Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand. Email: goddessalive@hotmail.com Key words: Ac-Di-Sol, agarose, methyl cellulose, translocation. Summary Lichens are an essential component of ecosystem pro- cesses. Many lichen species are habitat specialists that rely on specific tree substrates and moisture regimes of old growth forests and are not found in early-successional for- ests, small isolated forest fragments or restoration projects, making them useful bioindicators of forest health. Pres- sures from habitat loss and fragmentation have affected the viability and survival of lichen species that are often limited by low dispersal ability. As a rule, lichens are rarely included in ecological restoration programmes despite translocation methods being available. We trialed a combi- nation of two of the more successful methods (gauze packets and use of adhesive gels). Three different gelling agents were used in attempt to immobilize living soredia of the lichen Crocodia aurata on trunks of Ti Kouka/Cab- bage Tree (Cordyline australis) for long enough for them to develop into thallus lobes. The effectiveness of these methods was tracked over a 2-year period. Our results show that all three gel treatments were effective at immobilizing soredia in the gauze packets. Lobe formation occurred in all three gel treatments after 36 weeks, with methyl cellulose the most successful with six packets pro- ducing lobes, five Ac-Di-Sol â and two agarose packets also producing lobes, out of a possible total 100 gauze packets. Lobe formation was slightly more successful on the south sides of trees (seven of thirteen packets), despite initial survival and vitality of soredia being higher on the north sides of the trees. Introduction Lichens are an essential component of ecosystem processes, including the formation and stabilization of soils (Scott et al. 1997), carbon uptake and sequestration (Porada et al. 2013), nutrient cycling, the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen to a useable form for vascular plants (Ryan 2002; Brooker et al. 2011; Porada et al. 2013), as key components of the water cycle in forests (Scott et al. 1997), as a resource providing food and shelter to invertebrates, and nesting material for birds (Pettersson et al. 1995; Nash 2008). Many lichen spe- cies are habitat specialists that rely on specific tree substrates and moisture regimes of old growth forests (Scheidegger & Werth 2009) and are not found in early-successional forests, small isolated forest patches or restoration projects, making them useful bioindicators of forest health (Ranft et al. 2018). Pressures from habitat loss and fragmentation have affected the viability and survival of these old growth forest lichen species that are also often limited by low dispersal ability (Coppins & Coppins 2002; Liden et al. 2004; Brooker et al. 2011; Smith 2014). The same pressures can also restrict gene flow, genetic diversity and re-colonisation ability (Werth et al. 2007). While current conservation strategies for lichen popula- tions have focused on the protection of fragmented habi- tats, the rapid increase of disturbance to landscapes indicates that some very small lichen populations may not be able to persist long term (Werth et al. 2007). Under such circumstances, the translocation of lichens could be used to return species to areas from which they have been lost and/or to improve gene flow and genetic diversity of residual populations (Scheidegger et al. 1995; Liden 2009). Nevertheless, and notwithstanding their importance in ecosystems, lichens are rarely included in ecological restoration programmes (de Lange et al. 2012), and few studies have attempted to transplant them into restoration plantings of young trees. This is despite the fact that a doi: 10.1111/emr.12344 SHORT REPORT ECOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION VOL 0 NO 0 OCTOBER 2018 1 ª 2018 Ecological Society of Australia and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd Ecological Society of Australia