Arizona cliffrose (Purshia subintegra) on the Coconino National Forest Debra L. Crisp Coconino National Forest and Barbara G. Phillips, PhD. Coconino, Kaibab and Prescott National Forests

Introduction – Arizona cliffrose Associated species Threats Management actions Major range-wide threats to Arizona Cliffrose There are numerous other plant include urbanization, recreation, road and benefiting Arizona cliffrose •A long lived endemic shrub known only from four disjunct populations in species associated with Arizona utility line construction and maintenance, central Arizona, near Cottonwood, Bylas, Horseshoe Lake and Burro cliffrose. These include four Region 3 •Establishment of the Verde Valley Botanical Area minerals exploration and mining, and Creek. Sensitive species: heathleaf wild in 1987 (Coconino National Forest) livestock and wildlife browsing. •Usually less than 2 m tall with pale yellow flowers and entire leaves that buckwheat (Eriogonum ericifolium va r. •Withdrawal of an important part of the ericifolium), Ripley wild buckwheat population from a proposed land exchange lack glands. The Cottonwood population is in a (Eriogonum ripleyi), Verde Valley sage (Coconino National Forest) developing urban/suburban area. The •Occurs only on white Tertiary limestone lakebed deposits of the Verde (Salvia dorrii va r. mearnsii) and Rusby Rusby milkwort population in the Cottonwood area is rapidly •No lands containing Endangered species will be Formation that are high in lithium, nitrates, and magnesium. milkwort (Polygala rusbyi). increasing and human impacts are evident in exchanged from federal ownership (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1995) •Listed as Endangered in 1984. A Recovery Plan was prepared in 1995. the habitat of Arizona cliffrose. Many areas that were “open land” when photographs •Closure of the Botanical Area and surrounding were taken in 1987 are now occupied. The area to motorized traffic and maintenance of the •There are “pure” forms of Arizona cliffrose and introgressives (hybrid closures. forms) between Arizona cliffrose and the more common cliffrose, Purshia Botanical Area and other public lands in the stansburiana, in the Verde Valley area. area receive increased recreational use. •Yavapai County obtained a one square mile This trend will probably continue and section of habitat from the state of Arizona to increase as population continues to grow preserve the habitat and prevent development of This poster focuses on the Cottonwood population located on the it. Coconino National Forest, Arizona. Verde Valley Botanical Area and adjacent lands are developed. •Closure and rehabilitation of unofficial target was established in 1987 by the Coconino National Forest Plan. It shooting ranges, which destroyed an unknown encompasses 1209 acres and represents a unique desertscrub plant number of plants and acres of habitat. community. •Occupied habitat has been protected by the construction of fences, parking areas, and signs, Species Description reducing the impact from off-highway vehicle •Leaves narrow, short, entire, but users sometimes with 1 or 2 rounded, • Continuing coordination with Dead Horse Ranch shallow lobes below the leaf tip; Arizona cliffrose in the Verde Valley Botanical Ripley wild buckwheat Verde Valley sage State Park to minimize impacts from existing and not gland-dotted or sticky, Area near Cottonwood, Arizona proposed trails and other types of recreation margins revolute. Upper leaf uses. surface is usually loosely •Revision of grazing allotment management plan arachnoid-pubescent, but may be to better accommodate recovery needs hairless. Lower leaf surface is densely white-lanate. •Flower- five white or pale yellow Special Designations petals, born on a single peduncle. •Arizona cliffrose is a fully sponsored species at the •Fruit an achene with long Center for Plant Conservation. The custodian of the plumose persistent styles. species is The Arboretum at Flagstaff. Dr Joyce (Arizona Game and Fish, HDMS Maschinski and others on the staff at The Arboretum abstract, 2001) have contributed substantially to the understanding of An example of recreation use in Verde Valley the biology and ecology of the species. Botanical Area. This was an old road that has now been converted to a non-motorized •It was listed as Endangered by the US Fish and trailhead. Wildlife Service in 1984 and a Recovery Plan was prepared in 1995 •NatureServe ranks Arizona cliffrose as critically imperiled due to its limited distribution and low Habitat of Arizona cliffrose showing Verde Formation soil near reproduction in the wild. Cottonwood, Arizona Monitoring and Research Conclusions Results The long-term monitoring transects and other Forest Service Long Term Monitoring Transects monitoring show similar results to on-going research by The During our field visit in 2008 we were able to observe Arboretum at Flagstaff. Six linear transects were established in 1987. The transects were changes in the habitat and the plants on or near the each 100 feet long and were placed to maximize the number of transects. •Rates of survival for Arizona cliffrose were higher in occupied habitats Arizona cliffrose plants that occurred on each transect. The cover at in Verde Formation soil, declining in other soil types (Maschinski et al. each foot is recorded as a “hit”. Values recorded included: rock, •Results on individual transects has varied over time, 2004), highlighting the importance of the preservation of this very litter, bare ground and plant cover. Species of each plant along the reflecting different site attributes and responses. limited soil type. transect was also recorded. A 3 by 3 foot frame was part of the •Most Arizona cliffrose plants that were present when the •Arizona cliffrose more readily regenerated from seeds compared to monitoring transect. Plants occurring in this frame were recorded, transects were established are still present. cuttings (Baggs and Maschinski, 2001). sketched and photographed. The sketches and photographs are •No young plants have been observed on the transect lines. part of the recorded data on file and may be compared for changes • Some of the plants had dead tips on the branch ends, •Introgressed (hybrid forms) typically occurred in drainages in the among visits. Data from these transects were re-collected in 1995 showing a slight reduction in size. This is reflected in the past and were created when Arizona cliffrose and the more common and in 2008. Transect line for Arizona cliffrose monitoring reduction of AZ cliffrose “hits” on some transects. This Purshia stansburiana came in close contact. Road construction and reduction may be due in part to an ongoing regional associated disturbances may create corridors to bring introgressed drought that began in 1996. From Arizona Game and Fish forms closer to the “pure” forms of Arizona cliffrose, disrupting Department. 2001. population dynamics (Baggs and Maschinski, 2001b). •Arizona cliffrose faces an increasing risk of extinction from increasingly arid conditions and may go extinct without human Transect Data intervention. These risks would be even higher if the fragmentation of 30 existing habitat increases from additional roads, trails and other forms 1987 1993 of human disturbance (Maschinski et al. 2006) 2008 25 References •Arizona Game and Fish Department. 2001. Purshia subintegra. Unpublished abstract compiled and edited by the Heritage Data Management 20 System, Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, AZ. 6 pp. •Baggs, Joanne E. and Joyce Maschinski. 2001. From the Greenhouse to the Field: Cultivation Requirements of Arizona Cliffrose (Purshia subintegra). Pages 176-185. In Maschinski, J. and L. Holter (Eds.) Southwestern Rare and Endangered Plants: Proceedings of the Third

15 Conference. Flagstaff, AZ. Proceedings RMRS-P-23. 248 pages. •Baggs, Joanne E. and Joyce Maschinski. 2001b. The Threat of Increasing Hybridization of an Endangered Plant Species, Purshia subintegra, in the Verde Valley. Pages 213-220. In Maschinski, J. and L. Holter (Eds.) Southwestern Rare and Endangered Plants: Proceedings of the Third

Number of plants of Number Conference. Flagstaff, AZ. Proceedings RMRS-P-23. 248 pages. 10 •Maschinski, Joyce, Joanne E. Baggs and Christopher F. Sacchi. 2004. Seedling Recruitment and Survival of an Endangered Limestone Endemic in its Natural Habitat and Experimental Reintroduction Sites. American Journal of Botany. Vol. 91(5). Pages 689-698. •Maschinski, Joyce, Joanne E. Baggs, Pedro F. Quintana-Ascencio and Eric S. Menges. 2006. Using Population Viability Analysis to Predict the Effects of Climate Change on the Extinction Risk of an Endangered Limestone Endemic Shrub, Arizona Cliffrose. Conservation Biology. Vol. 20 (1). 5 Pages 218-228. 3 X 3 ft frame showing Arizona cliffrose and other •U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1983. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; final rule to determine Purshia (Cowania) subintegra (Arizona Volunteer Madison Daniels and Debra Crisp cliffrose) to be an endangered species. Federal Register 49:22326-22332. plants in vicinity. Arizona cliffrose is in the bottom 0 Photo by Dr. Joyce Maschinski from Center for •U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1995. Arizona Cliffrose (Purshia subintegra) Recovery Plan. USDI Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Ecological T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 at monitoring transect right corner. Transect Plant Conservation website Services State Office, Phoenix, Arizona. 90 pages.