Mistletoes are ecological keystones that boost habitat value for wildlife, so we added them to established plane trees in the inner city.

cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/2027785

Unlike other plants that can be grown as seedlings and planted out, mistletoes rely on animals to plant their seeds on the branches of host trees.

We set out on a world-first trial to attempt to reintroduce mistletoe to the trees of Melbourne.

All of Australia’s mistletoes are native species.

Working closely with City of Melbourne staff, research scientists from the Gulbali Institute undertook a world-first trial of the reintroduction of a native mistletoe to street trees.

Five years after inoculation, we found mistletoes had established on five trees.