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ABSTRACTS 2014 Florida Rare Plant Task Force

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ABSTRACTS 2014 Florida Rare Plant Task Force ABSTRACTS 2014 Florida Rare Plant Task Force Chris Bergh, The Nature Conservancy, “Incorporating sea level rise and storm surge projections into rare plant conservation strategies in the Florida Keys.” [email protected] The Florida Keys stretch from Miami to the remote Dry Tortugas, west of Key West and they provide vital habitat for native plants and wildlife, some of which – like the Florida semaphore cactus - are found nowhere else on the planet. More than ninety percent of the Keys’ land area is less than 5 feet above sea level and within a mile of the shore making these rare species extremely vulnerable to hurricane-driven storm surges and sea level rise. Documented acceleration of sea level rise over the last century and scientific predictions of an increasing rate of rise and increased storm intensity in the century to come demand a new look at these old problems. The coastalresilienc.org future scenarios mapping tool for the Keys enables decision makers – elected officials, natural resource managers, planners, homeowners and others – to visualize the individual and combined impacts of storm surge and sea level rise on a variety of features of interest. Many of these features (e.g. natural communities, models of future habitat locations under various sea level rise projections, etc.) may be useful for rare plant conservation. An introduction to the tool will be followed by using it “live” to examine some of the habitat conservation strategies developed in 2011 at the workshop, “Sea Level Rise Adaptation in the Florida Keys: Conserving Terrestrial and Intertidal Natural Areas and Native Species.” Dennis Giardina, Everglades Region Biologist, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Mike Owen, Park Biologist, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, “The Restoration of Rare and Extirpated Native Orchids at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park.” [email protected] Beginning in 2007, Park Biologist Mike Owen and then Park Manager Dennis Giardina began a collaboration with Horticulturist Matt Richards of Atlanta Botanical Garden to develop a plan to conserve the genetic diversity of the less than 20 known Cyrtopodium punctatum orchids at Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. Over the subsequent six years, all of the remaining Cyrtopodium punctatum orchids that produced flowers were cross pollinated and the seeds were sent to Atlanta Botanical Garden for propagation. Introduction of the juvenile Cyrtopodium punctatum orchids grown from seed began in 2011 and by 2013, over 650 had been out-planted in over 20 experimental restoration plots. In 2009, the only known individual of Prosthechea boothiana was discovered, growing in the Fakahatchee Strand Central Slough with three seed pods. One seed pod was collected and sent to Atlanta Botanical Garden for propagation and in 2013, approximately two dozen juvenile Prosthechea boothiana orchids were out- planted in two experimental restoration plots. In 2012, a collaboration with Cuban Botanists was initiated to experimentally re-introduce two of Fakahatchee Strand’s extirpated orchid species, Bulbophyllum pachyrhachis and Epidendrum acunae, using seeds collected from the nearest extant population of those two species in Western Cuba. Rich Hatfield and Scott Black, The Xerces Society, “The effect of fire on butterflies and other invertebrates.” [email protected] Fire plays an important role in many native ecosystems, and controlled burns are an increasingly common management tool. Prescribed burns are frequently used by land managers to maintain natural plant communities, but the effects on butterflies and other invertebrates is highly variable, sometimes negatively impacting these native animals. We will provide an overview of the effect of fires on butterflies and other insects and present recommendations on how managers can use this important tool to maintain overall biological diversity at burn sites. Matthew Keir, Oahu Army Natural Resources Program, “Managing for Rare Plants on Military Lands in Hawaii.” [email protected] The flora of the Hawaiian Islands has one of the highest rates of endemism in the world (89% for angiosperms, 73% for pteridophytes). Approximately ten percent of the flora is extinct, over thirty percent of the flora is federally listed as threatened or endangered and over half of all taxa are at risk of endangerment or extinction (out of 1360 species). Reasons for the decline of native species are both numerous and uncertain, often centered around the introduction of many invasive species, including other plants, invertebrates, and large ungulates, which can also cause vast habitat degradation. Threat control techniques include fencing, rat control, weed management, slug control, fire prevention and arthropod control. Genetic storage collections can be used for research and propagation for recovery efforts once habitats are secured and appropriate for restoration. Germplasm collections with high conservation value are genetically diverse, representative of taxa and populations, and have a well-documented history in cultivation. These can then be relied upon as a backup to prevent extinction as natural populations decline. These collections are used to establish reintroductions in secured habitat. The Oahu Army Natural Resources Program has been working since 1995 to survey, conduct research, collect, conduct threat control and restore populations of endangered plants found on or around US Army training areas on Oahu, Hawaii. Conservation plans for 39 taxa were developed by an inter-agency team and require protecting a total of 134 population units. In order to meet this requirement, reintroductions must be conducted at 111 (83%) of these population sites. So far, outplanting has been started at 71 sites. Propagules are grown in nurseries and transported to often remote locations with helicopter support. Each reintroduced plant is tracked to the original wild founder and populations are balanced within each planting site. Techniques for determining reintroduction success include monitoring for survivorship, fecundity and recruitment. To increase reintroduction success, OANRP has expanded regular threat control to include invertebrate toxicants and hand-pollination. Vivian Negrón-Ortiz, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, “Plant Conservation under the Endangered Species Act: Expenditures and Strategy.” [email protected]. Plants represent the taxonomic group with the highest number of listed taxa in almost every Fish & Wildlife Service (Service) region. The current number of federally protected plant species is less than a third of the high-risk taxa ranked as critically imperiled or imperiled. But based on ongoing threats, i.e. the conversion, degradation, and fragmentation of native habitats and accelerated climate change, the number of listed plant species and future recovery needs are projected to increase. To meet the current conservation challenge and to address the main issues hampering recovery progress (e.g., deficient biological information of both listed and non-listed imperiled species; shortage of botanical capacity; limited budget; and limited education and awareness of plant issues), a plant conservation strategy was developed under the leadership of the Plant Initiative Committee (Service staff across country with botanical backgrounds and expertise). I will discuss one issue limiting recovery progress, i.e., the allocation pattern of species recovery expenditures for federally listed plants; the goal and objectives of the Service’s Strategy for Plant Conservation; and recommendations for improving the conservation of rare plant species. Katrina Noland, Bok Tower Gardens, “Using an ancient technique on an ancient sand dune to benefit ancient species.” The Pinus palustris, longleaf pine ecosystem (also known as sandhill or high pine) is among one of the most imperiled habitats in the world. It is believed that more than 95 percent of these forest systems have been lost to land conversion. There are about 40 listed plant species found on the Lake Wales Ridge (an ancient sand dune), in Central Florida. Approximately 50 percent of those species are endemic to the Lake Wales Ridge, and are only found in sandhill and scrub habitats. We will discuss the importance of prescribed fire as it relates to the survival of six rare species found in the longleaf pine habitat at Bok Tower Gardens on the Lake Wales Ridge: Polygala lewtonii (Lewton’s polygala), Dicerandra modesta (blushing scrub balm), Prunus geniculata (scrub plum), Clitoria fragrans (sweet- scented pigeonwings), Ziziphus celata (Florida ziziphus) and Warea amplexifolia (clasping warea). Jennifer Possley1 and Dallas Hazelton2, 1 Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and 2Miami-Dade County Dept. of Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces. “Using a “Burn Box” for small-scale prescribed fires to aid populations of a federally endangered, fire-dependent species.” [email protected]; [email protected] Fire is a critical ecosystem process for globally critically imperiled pine rocklands, yet prescribed fires are very difficult to conduct in urban Miami. Unfortunately, one of the rare plants with the greatest need for prescribed fire happens to grow in a location that is extremely difficult to coordinate a burn. The federally endangered, Miami-endemic shrub Amorpha herbacea var. crenulata is distributed primarily in Miami’s A.D. Barnes and Tropical Parks. Both preserves are adjacent to several major freeways, dense housing, schools and businesses. High public
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