Parthenium alpinum (Nutt.) Torr. & Gray (alpine feverfew): A Technical Conservation Assessment Prepared for the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Species Conservation Project November 1, 2004 Bonnie Heidel and Joy Handley Wyoming Natural Diversity Database University of Wyoming, Dept. 3381 1000 E. University Avenue Laramie, WY 82071 Peer Review Administered by Center for Plant Conservation Heidel, B. and J. Handley. (2004, November 1). Parthenium alpinum (Nutt.) Torr. & Gray (alpine feverfew): a technical conservation assessment. [Online]. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region. Available: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/partheniumalpinum.pdf [date of access]. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The information in this report draws from the specimens and collection label information resources of the Rocky Mountain Herbarium (RM), the Colorado State Herbarium (CS), the University of Colorado Herbarium (UC), and the University of New Mexico (UNM), plus the information resources compiled and analyzed by Colorado Natural Heritage Program, New Mexico Natural Heritage Program, and Wyoming Natural Diversity Database. David Anderson and Michael Menefee provided the Colorado Natural Heritage Program records; Phil Tonne provided the New Mexico Natural Heritage Program records; Walter Fertig (previously with Wyoming Natural Diversity Database) and Robert Dorn provided the framework and greatly advanced the interpretation of species’ status in Wyoming. Maggie Marston (Pawnee National Grassland) and Bill Jennings provided insights into Colorado populations. Robert Dorn and Val Grant provided unpublished information from recent BioResources, Inc. surveys in and adjoining Pawnee National Grassland. Steve Popovich (Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest), Maggie Marston, Beth Burkhart (USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region), Susan Spackman (Colorado Natural Heritage Program), Richard Spellenberg (New Mexico State University), and Katherine Darrow provided valuable reviews. Funding for the project was provided by the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region contract 53-82X9-1-137. AUTHORS’ BIOGRAPHIES Bonnie Heidel graduated with a Master’s degree in Botany from Washington State University in Pullman, WA, working on the rare plants of northern Idaho. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton College in Northfield, MN, majoring in Biology, with honors awarded for her senior thesis and membership granted into Sigma Xi, the society of scientific research. She worked on threatened and endangered species for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regional office in Portland, OR, on plant species status compilation in the Midwest Regional Office of The Nature Conservancy in Minneapolis, MN, and on statewide sensitive species survey and research in natural heritage program positions in Helena, MT and in Bismarck, ND. She is currently Botanist of the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, a research program of the University of Wyoming in Laramie, conducting botanical surveys and research, and providing technical information services throughout the state. Joy Handley graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID, majoring in Range Resources. She worked as a range management specialist with the Salmon National Forest in Leadore, ID and as an assistant vegetation ecologist with the Colville Confederated Tribes in Nespelem, WA. She is completing her Master’s Degree in botany at the University of Wyoming on a floristic inventory of the Payette National Forest in Idaho. She works at the Rocky Mountain Herbarium and at the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database. COVER PHOTO CREDIT Parthenium alpinum (alpine feverfew). Photograph by William Jennings. Used with his permission. 2 3 SUMMARY OF KEY COMPONENTS FOR CONSERVATION OF PARTHENIUM ALPINUM Status Parthenium alpinum (Nutt.) T. & G. (alpine feverfew; syn. Bolophyta alpina Nuttall) is a regional endemic of northeastern Colorado, central and southeastern Wyoming, and northern New Mexico in five isolated population centers. As of 2003, it is no longer recognized as a sensitive species by the Rocky Mountain Region (Region 2) of the USDA Forest Service (USFS); its status at the forest level is under consideration. The NatureServe global rank for this species is vulnerable throughout its range (G3). It is ranked critically imperiled (S1) by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, vulnerable (S3) by the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, and imperiled (S2) by the New Mexico Natural Heritage Program. Of the 51 extant occurrences in Colorado and Wyoming, only two occurrences are on National Forest System lands; both of these are located on the Pawnee National Grassland in Colorado. In fact, these are the only occurrences rangewide on National Forest System lands. Primary Threats Parthenium alpinum is directly threatened by oil exploration, drilling, and associated activities; and by recreation, particularly off-road vehicle use. Both sets of activities may also introduce exotic species and accelerate erosion. Livestock grazing is the prevailing land use in P. alpinum habitat, but there are no signs of direct impact or evidence of this species’ response to grazing. Several characteristics of P. alpinum deter or diminish the likelihood of grazing impacts including pubescence, production of flavonoids, short stature, and flowering prior to the grazing season. However, practices that concentrate livestock close to occurrences may result in negative trampling effects in the unconsolidated substrates typical of P. alpinum habitat. These practices include fencing, salt block placement, and water development. Outside of the Pawnee National Grassland, individual occurrences may also be impacted by mining, quarrying, new road development, and increased road maintenance activities. Most threats to P. alpinum from human activities are indirect or localized, but they may be very important to the viability of small populations or population segments. Primary Conservation Elements, Management Implications and Considerations Parthenium alpinum occurs in long-lived cushion plant communities on sparsely vegetated slopes and outcrops within grasslands, shrublands, or open woodlands. In all of these settings, vegetation cover is low (i.e., less than 20 percent), and the exposed microhabitats are maintained, in part, by wind erosion. While P. alpinum is long-lived and stress-resistant, it may be slow to establish, and its habitat may be slow to recover from destabilization. Trend data are not available for populations. No federally protected areas have been designated that include the conservation of this species or its habitat as an explicit goal. Thus, it is vulnerable to habitat loss and degradation. Parthenium alpinum occurs in Colorado on land managed by the Pawnee National Grassland for multiple-use. In Wyoming, the three largest occurrences are on lands managed for multiple-use by the Bureau of Land Management. Road construction and excavation for pipelines and quarries have reduced its habitat and population numbers, at least locally, in Wyoming. Maintaining the population viability of P. alpinum begins with maintaining its habitat. Systematic survey of the species is not complete in all parts of the Pawnee National Grassland, which is the survey priority in Colorado. The priorities for survey work in Wyoming include efforts to relocate occurrences known only from historic collections and to evaluate whether the species reaches elevations as high as 7,000 feet, which would correspond with elevations at lower boundaries of National Forest System lands. Five conservation priorities are: v Monitor occurrence and sub-occurrence numbers to determine baseline trends and conduct demographic research to help project trends. v If there is evidence for grazing impact identified in the course of monitoring, or if there is an allotment management plan revision that may change patterns of grazing where the species occurs, evaluate the species’ response to livestock grazing. 2 3 v If there is evidence for off-road vehicle impact identified in the course of monitoring, or if there is a transportation or recreation management plan revision that may change patterns of use where the species occurs, develop standards to avoid impacts. v Determine the primary pollination vectors of Parthenium alpinum and rate of seed set to determine the success rate of pollination and the habitat requirements of the pollinator(s). v Conduct molecular genetic research to understand population structures, breeding systems, relations between northern and southern populations, species’ origin, and taxonomic relations between Parthenium alpinum and P. tetraneuris. Genetics research might be done in tandem with cytological research, expanding on limited chromosome count data for P. alpinum, P. ligulatum, and P. tetraneuris. 4 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................................................2 AUTHORS’ BIOGRAPHIES .........................................................................................................................................2 COVER PHOTO CREDIT .............................................................................................................................................2 SUMMARY OF KEY COMPONENTS FOR CONSERVATION OF PARTHENIUM ALPINUM ...............................3 Status..........................................................................................................................................................................3