Aquilegia Newsletter of the Colorado Native Plant Society “. dedicated to the appreciation and conservation of the Colorado native flora” Post-Consumer Recycled Paper – Questionable Benefits by John Giordanengo and oversimplified models are two of the biggest limitations of life cycle analyses. Below is a list of the environmental trade-offs As a member of CoNPS, it is your right to question the con- between using post-consumer recycled paper relative to virgin servation practices adhered to by the directors that serve you. One paper. These findings are based on a review of the literature of the most resource-consuming products CoNPS produces is the (including life cycle analyses) and six years of professional expe- beloved Aquilegia. As consumers of the world continue to rience working in the recycling industry: increase demand for post-consumer recycled paper (that is, made • Number of Trees Used: It is clear that recycled paper uses from paper that was deposited by you into a recycling container), fewer trees than virgin paper, thus lessening demand on the reduced market for tree-based paper becomes an ever-impor- forests. In turn, recycled paper increases the potential for tant element of forest conservation. However, beyond the issue of conserving biodiversity around the world and maintaining number of trees consumed, the decision to use recycled paper or healthy watersheds. virgin paper (that is, made from trees, with no recycled content) • Landfill Space: Using recycled paper reduces the amount also impacts global warming, energy consumption, landfill space, of waste going to landfills by providing a market for recy- water consumption, and pollution. cled materials. The costs associated with these environmental impacts are often a result of the consumers’ personal values, which are partial- “Recycled Paper” continues on page 2 ly a reflection of the environment in which they live. For instance, if you live in a desert, you are more likely to view durable plates Contents as having a higher environmental cost, due to washing, than the use About the Society...................................................................19 Announcements...............................................................11, 13 of paper plates. If you live in an area that suffers from severe log- Articles...............................................................1-2, 3-7, 11-13 ging, but has an abundance of water, you might view paper plates Calendar..................................................................................20 as having a higher environmental cost. In an attempt to remove Chapter News and Announcements..................................16-18 personal bias from the decision-making process, life cycle analysis Conservation Corner..........................................................10-11 Society News and Announcements..........................2, 7, 15, 18 is often used to determine the net environmental costs associated Who’s in that Name? ............................................................8-9 with various consumption alternatives. However, inadequate data Volume 32 Number 4 Aquilegia Winter 2008 “Recycled Paper” continued from page 1 ASTOUNDING ASTRAGALUS IN COLORADO Leader: Jennifer Ackerfield • Energy: Most of the reports that I found indicate the produc- Location: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO tion of recycled paper uses less energy than virgin paper, but Time: 9:00 am to 3:00 PM the energy used tends to come more from fossil fuels. Session One: Saturday, 7 February 2009 • Greenhouse Gases: It is not clear how recycled paper use Session Two: Sunday, 8 February 2009 relates to CO2 sources and sinks, since the complexities of that issue are beyond the scope of this report. THE STRANGE LIFE OF • Pollution (air and water): State of knowledge is inadequate. MOSSES, FERNS, AND HORSETAILS • Water Consumption: Although my professional experience Leader: Vickey Trammell suggests that the production of recycled paper consumes Location: Arapahoe Community College, Littleton, CO less water than the production of virgin paper, there is little Time: 9:00 am to 1:00 PM evidence from the literature to support or deny this claim. Session One: Saturday, 14 March 2009 THE BOTTOM LINE... consumers are encouraged to reduce Session Two: Sunday, 15 March 2009 their overall consumption of paper (virgin or recycled). When Optional: Afternoon trips to Denver Botanic Gardens paper is necessary, choose post-consumer recycled content when possible to lower your environmental impact. “INTERESTING” GRASS GENERA If you are aware of additional research findings on this issue, Leader: Robert Shaw, author of Colorado Grasses please send them to the Board of Directors for review. In an effort Location: Fort Collins, CO (location TBA) to reduce the environmental impact of Aquilegia, we will maintain Time: 9:00 am to 3:00 PM a policy on the use of paper that reflects the best available knowl- Session One: Saturday, 25 April 2009 edge. In the mean time, we are proud to say that Aquilegia is Session Two: Sunday, 26 April 26 2009 printed on 100% recycled paper, minimum 30% post-consumer content. If you would like to receive Aquilegia electronically, BASIC WILDFLOWER IDENTIFICATION please contact Eric Lane by e-mail at: [email protected] Leader: Mary Ann Bonnell Location: Morrison Nature Center at Star K Ranch, Aurora John Giordanengo is a Director of Time: 9:00 am – 3:00 PM the Board for the Colorado Native Session One: Saturday, 2 May 2009 Plant Society and Project Session Two: Sunday, 3 May 2009 Director for Wildlands Restoration Volunteers. To register, mail your check payable to CoNPS ($20 per work- shop session) along with the registration form from our website. Or send your check with the title and date of desired workshop(s), your name, address, telephone number, and email address to: 2009 SOCIETY WORKSHOPS CoNPS c/o Linda Smith “Grow” your knowledge by attending one of our upcoming 6822 Mission Rd, workshops. There are still a few places available in February’s Colorado Springs, CO 80915. workshop on Astragalus, as well as April’s workshop emphasiz- ing select grass genera. To really expand your knowledge of Workshop Hosts Needed plants, why not try the March workshop on ferns, mosses and liv- Hosts are still needed for Barry Johnston’s Wetlands work- erworts? Vickey Trammel will provide an introduction to their shop on 23-24 January and Mary Ann Bonnell’s Basic Wildflower form, life cycles, and identification. And as the new wildflower Identification workshop on 2-3 May. Call Ann Henson at 303- season springs forth under our warm sun, Mary Ann Bonnel will 772-8962, if you are able to volunteer. introduce wildflower identification using taxonomic keys. What better way for a budding botanist to start down this new path? For details, see Aquilegia 32(3) or www.CoNPS.org. Page 2 Aquilegia Volume 32 Number 4 MARR AND STEINKAMP GRANT REPORTS Demographic Monitoring of the Cliff Palace Milkvetch (Astragalus deterior): Burned vs. Unburned Populations in Mesa Verde National Park by Lynn Moore beach deposit of the Upper Cliff House Formation. These soils are produced from Astragalus deterior (Barneby) erosion activities of wind or from run-off Barneby (Cliff Palace milkvetch) is an filling cracks with loose sandy soils. endemic species known to occur in Mesa Astragalus deterior is typically found in Verde National Park (MEVE). Mesa Verde undisturbed mature piñon/juniper domi- has experienced six large fires since 1989, nated vegetation. of which several affected known popula- Methods. Monitoring of Astragalus tions of A. deterior. The Natural Resource deterior involved establishing 11-baseline Office personnel at MEVE wanted to com- permanent belt transects in select areas Astragalus deterior. From Lynn Moore. pare population dynamics between burned within the Park. Study design and sam- and unburned occurrences at different geo- pling methodology followed (Lesica 1987). used to construct a life cycle diagram as graphic locations across the park. To help The length and placement of transects were per Caswell (2001) for the total, burned answer the question of how fire impacts selected to encompass as many individuals and unburned transects. Net reproductive the life history of A. deterior, 11 perma- as possible within plots. This is a qualita- rate, survivorship, cohort tables, mortality, nent belt-transects were established in tive study using discrete data to track the and mortality rate, are not presented here- burned and unburned sampling sites. fate of individuals in burned and unburned in; however, the full report, which includes Astragalus deterior is a small, caespi- habitat. Sampling occurred in mid-June of these data, is available from the author or tose, more or less short-lived perennial. It 2003 and in mid-May of 2004, 2005, and from the Natural Resource Office at Mesa was first described by R. C. Barneby from 2007. Sampling did not occur in 2006. Verde National Park (Moore 2008). a Mesa Verde collection in 1948. It is Stage classes were established as fol- Results. Four years of sampling readily recognized by the small, narrow, lows: seed bank (new individuals, offspring tracked 902 individual plants; 409 of these slightly folded leaves with a grayish-green of mature-reproductive), seedling (less than occurred in burned areas and 493 in color due to the strigulose pubescence. or equal to 1 to 2 leaves), non-reproductive unburned sites (Fig. 1). The largest num- The flowers are most often lilac colored,