Transcript Relative abundance II: rare species preservation

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-based systems (Natural Heritage
Programs, NatureServe)
STATE RANK
S1 = 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.
New York rare plants
Managing Rare Species
In situ protection
• Usually involves land buying and laws
that prohibit collection or harvest
Ginseng management
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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’
Ginseng management
• 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 year
Mammoth Cave NP in 2002:
poacher caught with 5700
plants
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)
New Zealand – translocations 1990-2006
MAMMALS
HERPTILES
•Lesser Short-tailed Bat
•New Zealand Pigeon
•Tuatara
•Mahoenui Giant Weta
BIRDS
•Kakapo
•Brothers Island Tuatara
•Auckland Tree Weta
•Little Spotted Kiwi
•Kaka
•Matapia Island Gecko
•Wellington Tree Weta
•North Island Brown Kiwi
•Red-crowned Kakariki
•Duvaucel's Gecko
•Flax Weevil
•Okarito Brown Kiwi
•Yellow-crowned Kakariki
•Pacific Gecko
•Knobbled Weevil
•Southern Tokoeka
•Rifleman
•Common Green Gecko
•Flax Snail
•Fairly Prion
•Tomtit
•Marlborough Green Gecko
PLANTS
•Black Petrel
•North Island Robin
•Robust Skink
•Doodia squarrosa
•Hutton's Shearwater
•South Island Robin
•McGregor's Skink
•Lepidium oleraceum
•Fluttering Shearwater
•Stewart Island Robin
•Marbled Skink
•Lepidium flexicaule
•Northern Diving Petrel
•Black Robin
•Whitaker's Skink
•Muehlenbeckia astonii
•Brown Teal
•Chatham Island Tit
•Mokohinau Skink
•Teucridium parvifolium
•Campbell Island Teal
•Whitehead
•Spotted Skink
•Metrosideros robusta
•Blue Duck
•Mohoua
•Speckled Skink
•Streblus banksii
•New Zealand Scaup
•North Island Fernbird
•Egg-laying Skink
•Ileostylus micranthus
•New Zealand Falcon
•Stewart Island Fernbird
•Hamilton's Frog
•Tupeia antarctica
•Banded Rail
•Codfish Island Fernbird
•Maud Island Frog
•Clianthus puniceus
•North Island Weka
•Kokako
•Hochstetter's Frog
•Dactylanthus taylorii
•Takahe
•North Island Saddleback
INVERTEBRATES
•Black Stilt
•South Island Saddleback
•Middle Island Tusked Weta
•Shore Plover
•Bellbird
•Cook Strait Giant Weta
•Snipe
•Hihi
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?