Using long-term population monitoring data to prioritize conservation action among rare plant species

Holly L. Bernardo*, Patricia L Vitt, Rachel Goad, Susanne Masi, Tiffany M. Knight

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The decline and extinction of native plant species is a global conservation crisis, and there is a need for rapid prioritization of our conservation efforts. In the USA, the two main systems used to identify at-risk species, Threatened and Endangered (T&E) status and conservation status ranks by NatureServe (G- and S-ranks), are categorical and typically assessed with large-scale criteria, thus are not ideal to aid practitioners in developing priorities at smaller scales. Our goal was to develop a continuous risk assignment for plant species using monitoring data collected at a smaller scale so that limited conservation resources can be better prioritized among at-risk species. To do this, we modified a count-based population viability analysis to produce two regional, species-level viability metrics: a regional growth rate and a regional 50-y probability of extinction. Our validation exercises confirmed these metrics could reliability place 24 rare forb species along a continuous scale of viability. We identified nine species (37.5% of those analyzed) in need of conservation effort in northern Illinois. The challenges we faced developing these metrics and our solutions are discussed more generally to improve rare plant species monitoring practices. Overall, this method is an innovative expansion of the use of population size monitoring data to inform conservation beyond the population.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)169-181
Number of pages13
JournalNatural Areas Journal
Volume39
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 21 2019

Funding

We thank the hundreds of POC volunteers for their countless hours of data collection that contributed to this research. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments. Funding for this work was provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation as part of the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship of T.M.K. Funding for the POC program was provided by Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Cook County Forest Preserves, Openlands of Chicago, US Forest Service, Toyota To-getherGreen, The Nature Conservancy of Illinois, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, US Environmental Protection Agency, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Garden Club of America, Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network, US Fish and Wildlife Service through the Chicago Wilderness Alliance, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, CorLands, and Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Keywords

  • count-based population viability analysis
  • plant conservation
  • population monitoring
  • rare plant
  • resource prioritization

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology
  • Nature and Landscape Conservation

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