VA Round-Leaf Birch

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Virginia Round-leaf Birch Betula uber

The Virginia round-leaf birch was the first As if to underscore the point, within a documented in 1981. While tree given protection under the year, 12 of the trees were lost to there are Endangered Species Act. This rare vandalism on the private lands. nearly 1,000 variant was first described by botanist By 1977 the population was down to 26 artificially W. W. Ashe in 1918 as living in a single trees and appeared to be on its way out. propagated creek's drainage area. While Ashe Cattle grazing, illegal plant collecting and trees in botanical considered the birch with the unusual competition from other vegetation was gardens and the round leaves to be a subspecies of the pushing the species to the brink. At that wild, the lack of sweet birch, botanist M.L. Fernald point, people from government agencies, natural elevated it to species level. academic institutions, the conservation reproduction is the community and the private sector came primary reason the But then the tree apparently vanished. together to study, manage and protect the tree is still listed today. For nearly 60 years, no one could locate round-leaf birch. This committee was the Recovery for the Virginia round-leaf the birch with the odd round leaves, and driving force behind the species being birch hinges on the successful the species was assumed to be extinct. In protected by the Endangered Species Act natural reproduction and survival 1975, naturalist Douglas Ogle in 1978. Prominent among these of these populations in the wild. rediscovered the round-leaf birch along a cooperators were the U.S. Forest Service, different creek only a mile from where the Virginia Department of Agriculture At a height of 40 feet, with its dark bark Ashe said he had made his discovery. and Consumer Services, and individual and distinctive, rounded leaves, the Botanists now believe Ashe erred when researchers. Virginia round-leaf birch is a beautiful he identified the original site. and imposing tree. Whether the last The birch needed maintenance of its survivor of a more widespread species With the rediscovery of the round-leaf habitat and protection against vandalism, variety or a recent evolutionary split-off, birch in 1975, botanists and field so early efforts focused on working with the Virginia round-leaf birch still graces naturalists scoured the woods and creek private landowners to put up fences for our land, thanks to the cooperative work banks of southwest Virginia, trying to protection against grazing, distributing of people who made sure this tree was not locate more of the trees. One by one, the artificially propagated seedlings to reduce lost forever. search parties returned empty handed, the threat of illegal transplanting, and it became clear that this removing competing vegetation, and Northeast Region unremarkable stretch of cut-over land stabilizing the creek banks against U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service along an overlooked creek was in fact erosion and consequent habitat loss. 300 Westgate Center Drive quite unique, hosting as it did the Hadley, MA 01035 world's entire population of 41 round- Botanists collected seeds from mature 413/253 8200 leaf birch trees. round-leaf birch, germinated them in http://northeast.fws.gov greenhouse conditions, and transplanted The realization that this population was the birch seedlings to prepared sites in Federal Relay Service distinct carried another message: any the creek's watershed. Five new for the deaf and hard-of-hearing natural or human-caused catastrophe, or populations were established each year 1 800/877 8339 any combination of misfortunes - over a four-year period, and, with 19 of vandalism, fire, drought, flooding - could the 20 populations considered self U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wipe out the single stand of trees and sufficient, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife http://www.fws.gov cause the Virginia round-leaf birch's Service changed the species' official status 1 800/344 WILD extinction. Complicating the issue, the from endangered to threatened. single population was spread over three October 2005 different land owners, including the The single natural population of Virginia NT OF E TH TM E R I A N Mount Rogers Recreation Area and two round-leaf birch has dwindled down to P T E E R D

S R private tracts, making a coordinated only eight individuals in 2003. . recovery effort that much more difficult. Reproduction in the wild was last U M A 49 R CH 3, 18