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Species Status Assessment (SSA) Report for the Purpledisk Honeycombhead (Balduina Atropurpurea)

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Species Status Assessment (SSA) Report for the Purpledisk Honeycombhead (Balduina Atropurpurea) Species Status Assessment Report for the Balduina atropurpurea (Purpledisk honeycombhead) Version 1.0 Photo by Dee Mincey, Department of Defense, Fort Stewart, Georgia August 2019 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region Atlanta, GA ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document was prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Balduina atropurpurea Species Status Assessment Team (April Punsalan, Nicole Rankin, Caroline Krom, and Erin Rivenbark). We also received substantial assistance from Melanie Olds (USFWS – South Carolina Ecological Services Office), Todd Jones-Farrand (Region 4 – Science Applications), and Carlos Ramirez (Mississippi State University). Habitat suitability and future projection modeling analyses were performed by Mississippi State University. We would also like to recognize and thank the following individuals who provided substantive information, photos, and/or insights for our species status assessment. Thank you to Tom Patrick, Richard Porcher, Dee Mincey, Jacob Thompson, Stella Osborn, Bobby Hattaway, Scott Wiggers, David Lincicome, Jennifer Ceska, Linda Chafin, Wilson Baker, Amy Jenkins, Keith Bradley, Nicole Hawkins, Herrick Brown, Anna Smith, Jennifer Walls, Al Schotz, Frank Price, Ron Determann, Bruce Sorrie, and Lawrence Carlile. Valuable peer review of a draft of this document were provided by Laura Robinson. In addition, Lisa Kruse, Michael Jenkins, and Lesley Stark provided partner review of the same draft of this document. We appreciate their input and comments, which resulted in a more robust status assessment and final report. Suggested reference: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2019. Species status assessment report for the Balduina atropurpurea (purpledisk honeycombhead), Version 1.0. August 2019. Atlanta, GA. SSA Report – B. atropurpurea ii August 2019 VERSION UPDATES The changes from Version 0.1 (April 2019) to 0.2 (May 2019) are mostly minor grammar, editorial, and subject matter clarifications. Two substantive changes were made to reflect peer reviewer comments: 1) Changed the current condition resiliency score from low resiliency to very low resilency for the Rosindale population located in North Carolina. 2) Added an explanation of status codes including extant, extirpated, historical, occurrence. The changes from Version 0.2 (May 2019) to 1.0 (July 2019) are minor and do not change the SSA analysis for Balduina atropurpurea. The changes were: 1) Updated Figure 4.2 to display the map title without the draft date. 2) Updated Figure 4.3 to display the map title without the draft date. 3) Updated Figures 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, and 4.11 to reflect changes in three resiliency scores. 4) Updated Figures 5.3 (a,b), 5.4 (a,b), and 5.5 (a,b) to reflect changes in the future projections of three resiliency scores. SSA Report – B. atropurpurea iii August 2019 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report summarizes the results of a Species Status Assessment completed for Balduina atropurpurea (purpledisk honeycombhead), hereafter called Balduina, to assess the species’ overall viability. We considered what the species needs to maintain viability by characterizing the status of the species in terms of its resiliency, representation, and redundancy (3 R’s). We provide a thorough assessment of the biology and ecological needs of the species, followed by a description of the factors influencing viability, the current condition of the species, and predicted future conditions. Balduina is a Southeastern Coastal Plain endemic found in fire-adapted pine savanna and flatwood ecosystems of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and historically in Alabama. The distinguishing characteristics of Balduina include a honeycomb receptacle, small basal rosette, and purple-to-marron disk flowers. Balduina is a facultative wetland species flowering from mid-August to mid-October and fruiting from October to November. The four life stages of Balduina include seeds, basal rosette, basal rosette with vegetative stalk, and reproductive individuals. The life history and resource needs of Balduina appears tightly interlinked with high relative light levels (little to no shading at or near the ground surface) and moisture availability. Balduina requires cross-pollination for viable seed production (Parker and Jones 1975, p. 358). The primary factors impacting the viability of Balduina are habitat based: habitat loss due to development or land conversion (e.g. agriculture, pine plantations, etc.) and degradation due to fire suppression. Across Balduina’s range, the transition zone between longleaf pine uplands and aquatic wetlands has been heavily impacted by habitat destruction and modification. Large tracts of land, containing both uplands and aquatic wetlands, are needed to protect these transitions zones. Further, Balduina and its habitat requires frequent fire prescription to maintain the open conditions in these mesic transition zones to abate woody encroachment and facilitate nutrient releases. Other potential factors influencing the viability of Balduina include non-native invasive species (i.e. feral hogs) and climate change. For the purpose of this assessment, we defined viability as the ability of Balduina to sustain populations in pine savanna and flatwood ecosystems over time. Using the SSA framework, we describe the viability of Balduina by defining populations, assessing current conditions, and predicting the future condition using the metrics of the 3Rs. We delineated Balduina populations using NatureServe’s Habitat-based Plant Element Occurrence Delimitation Guidance (NatureServe Explorer 2018, unpaginated). For each Balduina element occurrence, we used a 2-kilometer (km; 1.24 miles (mi)) separation distance rule to separate populations. When occurrences within 2 km were disjunct from one another for more than 1 km due to agriculture fields or pine plantations, we used a 1 km separation distance rule to separate populations. Overall, we delineated 79 Balduina populations from 140 element occurrence records. To assess the current condition and resiliency of Balduina, we revised a habitat and population metrics datasheet. The habitat metrics included five metric categories that were designed to SSA Report – B. atropurpurea iv August 2019 assess the vegetation, hydrology, and fire management of each Balduina population. In addition to the habitat metrics, we used two population metrics (number of individuals per population and number of occurrences within a population) to assess resiliency of Balduina populations. For Balduina populations (28) without a completed habitat and population metrics datasheet, we compiled state heritage data and used the two population metrics (number of individuals per population and number occurrences within a population) to compute population resiliency. Six Balduina populations did not have completed metric datasheets or state heritage data that included the number of individuals. Therefore, we used the best available science to assign a resiliency score based on the time since last seen, land protection status, and number of occurrences per population. For representation and redundancy, we assessed the distribution of Balduina populations across 6 representation units. Out of the 79 Balduina populations, 38 remain extant, 39 are historical, and two are extirpated. The majority (64) of Balduina populations occur in Georgia. There are five extant populations in Florida while one extant population remains in North Carolina and one in South Carolina. Thirty-nine Balduina populations are considered in historical status and two are extirpated. Of the 38 extant Balduina populations, five currently have high resiliency and four have moderate resiliency. Four of the highly resilient and two moderate resilient populations occur on protected land. Across the range, the remaining extant populations (29) have low (7) to very low (22) resiliency. Overall, Balduina has experienced a decline in the number of resilient populations within each of the representation units and across the range. The distribution of resilient populations is clustered in three representation units in Georgia and Florida. In addition, the current redundancy has been reduced from historical conditions. To determine future projections, we used a habitat suitability model, SLEUTH model, and three management scenarios. We selected a high urbanization SLEUTH model to determine the projected percent of suitable habitat (determined from habitat suitability model) lost due to development at two time steps: 2040 and 2060. If a population was projected to lose greater than 25% of suitable habitat under the high urbanization scenario, it was assessed to have a high risk of development. Conversely, it had a low risk of development, if it was projected to lose 25% or less of suitable habitat. Then, we used the high and low risk of development to determine what would happen to the future resiliency of populations if management stayed the same (Scenario 1 – Status Quo), decreased (Scenario 2 – Decreased Management), or increased (Scenario 3 – Increased Management). The interaction between risk of development and management for the three scenarios was used to determine future resiliency at 2040 and 2060 for all extant Balduina populations. In summary, if management continues as today as under Scenario 1, the projected change in resiliency results in losing two Balduina populations at 2040 and four populations at 2060 due to development. Across the range, more than half (27 and 26) of the remaining extant populations (36 and
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