Relative abundance II: rare species preservation

Bio 415/615

Questions

1. Why are rare species tracked at both global (G) and state (S) levels?

2. What management strategies pertain to in situ protection?

3. What is the strategy of assisted migration?

4. What is ginseng, and why is it rare?

TNC G (Global) Ranks

(of about 20,000 US plants and animals)

STATE RANKS1 = Critically imperiled in New York State because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer sites or very few remaining individuals) or extremely vulnerable to extirpation from New York State due to biological or human factors.S2 = Imperiled in New York State because of rarity (6 - 20 sites or few remaining individuals) or highly vulnerable to extirpation from New York State due to biological or human factors.S3 = Rare in New York State (usually 21 - 35 extant sites).S4 = Apparently secure in New York State.S5 = Demonstrably secure in New York State.SH = Historical. No existing sites known in New York State in the last 20-30 years but it may be rediscovered.SX = Apparently extirpated from New York State, very low probability of rediscovery.SR = Reported from the state, but existence has not been documented.SU = Status uncertain because of the cryptic nature of the plant.

State-based systems (Natural Heritage Programs, NatureServe)

New York rare plants

Managing Rare Species

In situ protection• Usually involves land buying and

laws that prohibit collection or harvest

Ginseng management• Panax quinquefolius• Endemic to Eastern North America• Rich cove species• Roots used medicinally for millennia, esp. by

Chinese: stimulant, aphrodisiac, ‘rejuvenating’ qualities

Name means ‘man root’

• Difficult to cultivate: not reproductive for several years, grows slowly because shade tolerant

• HARVEST PRESSURE INTENSE, often shipped to Asian markets

• Endangered in Canada, Maine, Michigan• Rare in most of the South, upper Midwest, east coast

Ginseng management

• Harvesting OUTLAWED in several states and federal lands, such as GSMNP

• USFS ‘sensitive species’• Thousands of pounds of illegally

harvested roots seized each yearMammoth Cave NP in 2002: poacher caught with 5700 plants

Ginseng management

Ginseng management

• Can be exported only if shown to be legally obtained under CITES agreement (Convention on Int’l Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)

•States have passed Acts to regulate ginseng trade (usually through state Dept of Agriculture)

Ginseng management

• Studies document minimum viable population sizes (are current populations big enough, or is augmentation required?)

• Nantel et al. 1996 (Canada): MVP = 170 plants; only a dozen or so populations in Canada > 170

• Demographic (elasticity) analysis: if harvested, which individuals to take?

Charron and Gagnon 1991: changes affecting largest individuals had biggest impact on population growth

Translocations (Assisted Migration)–

Common Conservation Strategy

Key Conservation Issues:

1. Effectiveness

2. Ethical Issues (i.e. exotic introductions)

3. Laws, rules, policies don’t exist

Elephant Translocations

One Example:

Goal of moving 400 elephants from a game reserve to a national park in Kenya

An expensive proposition (millions of dollars)

  MAMMALS

•Lesser Short-tailed Bat

BIRDS

•Little Spotted Kiwi

•North Island Brown Kiwi

•Okarito Brown Kiwi

•Southern Tokoeka

•Fairly Prion

•Black Petrel

•Hutton's Shearwater

•Fluttering Shearwater

•Northern Diving Petrel

•Brown Teal

•Campbell Island Teal

•Blue Duck

•New Zealand Scaup

•New Zealand Falcon

•Banded Rail

•North Island Weka

•Takahe

•Black Stilt

•Shore Plover

•Snipe

•Mahoenui Giant Weta

•Auckland Tree Weta

•Wellington Tree Weta

•Flax Weevil

•Knobbled Weevil

•Flax Snail

PLANTS

•Doodia squarrosa

•Lepidium oleraceum

•Lepidium flexicaule

•Muehlenbeckia astonii

•Teucridium parvifolium

•Metrosideros robusta

•Streblus banksii

•Ileostylus micranthus

•Tupeia antarctica

•Clianthus puniceus

•Dactylanthus taylorii

New Zealand – translocations 1990-2006•New Zealand Pigeon

•Kakapo

•Kaka

•Red-crowned Kakariki

•Yellow-crowned Kakariki

•Rifleman

•Tomtit

•North Island Robin

•South Island Robin

•Stewart Island Robin

•Black Robin

•Chatham Island Tit

•Whitehead

•Mohoua

•North Island Fernbird

•Stewart Island Fernbird

•Codfish Island Fernbird

•Kokako

•North Island Saddleback

•South Island Saddleback

•Bellbird

•Hihi

HERPTILES

•Tuatara

•Brothers Island Tuatara

•Matapia Island Gecko

•Duvaucel's Gecko

•Pacific Gecko

•Common Green Gecko

•Marlborough Green Gecko

•Robust Skink

•McGregor's Skink

•Marbled Skink

•Whitaker's Skink

•Mokohinau Skink

•Spotted Skink

•Speckled Skink

•Egg-laying Skink

•Hamilton's Frog

•Maud Island Frog

•Hochstetter's Frog

INVERTEBRATES

•Middle Island Tusked Weta

•Cook Strait Giant Weta

Translocating a Tree – Torreya taxifolia

From Florida Panhandle to Asheville, North Carolina

Growing well 60+ years, being “planted” by squirrels

No rules, no regulations

Torreya Guardians is a self-organized group

Fleshy fruit not dispersed well by animals

Missing animals (Pleistocene extinction? Recent Native American Impact?)

Other tree species shifted North

Assisted migrations…• Maclura pomifera, Osage orange

Native to the Red River Valley

Now essentially everywhere… spread by frontiersman because wood makes great fence posts

Why is assisted migration such a growing issue?

By 2100, mean annual temperature across North America could increase anywhere from 2-7 degrees C. Not much? Consider that 18,000 years ago at the maximum extent of glaciation, North America was about 5 deg C cooler.

Iverson & Prasad (USFS)

Forest composition change in the Eastern US by 2100 (current is upper left). NY will resemble current Tennessee, Missouri (oak hickory forests).

Sugar maple: gone?!

Black cherry: ‘sparse’?!

Beech: contraction?

Sweetgum: can it move?

Longleaf pine: can it move?