The official list of Rhode Island’s
rare and endangered plants has been updated for the first time in a decade, and
the picture is somewhat grim. A total of 81 species were added to the Rhode Island Natural Heritage Database – bringing the total to 414 – and 13 from the
previous list were found to have disappeared from the state entirely.
Conversely,
several species thought to have been extirpated were rediscovered, and a
handful of others were found to be less rare than earlier surveys had
indicated.
“Things are changing rapidly with
the climate, and there is ongoing development pressure that affects plants,” said
David Gregg, executive director of the Rhode Island Natural History Survey,
which played a key role in updating the database. “New observations are being
made all the time that change our opinion of the relative rarity of species.”
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| Purple milkweed |
The Natural Heritage Database
categorizes rare plants as either endangered, threatened or of special concern
in the state, and a fourth category called “historic” indicates those species
that once grew in the state but are no longer present.
Among the plants added to the
database in the recent update are trumpet honeysuckle, a species common in the
horticultural trade but which has declined in the wild; Canada dwarf-dogwood,
also called bunch berry, which has struggled due to warming temperatures; and
yellow blue-head lily, a northern species found more commonly on the mountain
slopes of Vermont and New Hampshire.
Orchids are in especially dire
straits in Rhode Island. Seven orchid species were added to the database,
including yellow ladies’-tresses, large whorled pogonia, and north wind
bog-orchid. Of the 36 species of orchids native to the state, 33 of them are now
on the rare species list, and 10 of those are considered historic. The only
orchids native to Rhode Island that are not on the list are the pink lady
slipper and two kinds of rattlesnake plantain.
“Orchids are always rare on the
landscape, but they’re also eaten by deer – they’re apparently really tasty –
and they have very specific pollinator relationships and habitat specificity
that make them at risk,” said Hope Leeson, a botanist for the Natural History
Survey who participated in updating the database. “We’ve talked about adding
the pink lady slipper, but it hasn’t made the list yet.”
Leeson said that many of the changes
to the database were the result of increased efforts by a large number of volunteer
botanists like Rick Enser, Doug McGrady and Francis Underwood spending time
searching for particular species. A population of waxy-leaved meadow-rue was
discovered by volunteers in Westerly, for instance, and purple milkweed was
found in West Warwick and South Kingstown. Both species had been considered
historic but have been moved to the endangered category.
Among the 10 species that volunteers
were unable to find and, as a result, are now considered historic are
lily-leaved wide-lipped orchid, dwarf burhead, three kinds of sedge, and
budding pond weed, an aquatic plant that requires pristine water quality to
survive.
Just three species were removed from
the list because their population status in the state improved. Five others
moved down the list from endangered to threatened or threatened to concern
because they were found to be in less danger of extinction than previously believed.
One of those, tall beaksedge, is considered a conservation success story
because it benefitted from active monitoring efforts and habitat protection.
“We debated moving other species off
the list entirely, but part of our reluctance was that even though we may have
found more populations, they are still at risk from things that are going to
continue happening in the future – climate change, habitat fragmentation, deer
browse,” Leeson said. “Those are impacting rare species, and since rare species
have such a specific habitat type that they have an affinity for, if you lose
the habitat you lose the species.”
According
to Gregg, the database is used in decisions by state and local environmental
officials about land management and conservation, and by regulators and
developers when properties are being considered for development. For instance,
applications for permits to disturb wetlands must include a list of rare
species found on the property. And electric utilities often seeks information
about rare species found on their transmission corridors as they make upgrades
to the power lines.
Many groups and individuals were
involved in the process of updating the list, including representatives from
the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Audubon Society of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Wild Plant Society, and
the New England Wildflower Society. The updated list was included in the
state’s 2015 Wildlife Action Plan, which was reviewed by scientists and the
public and approved by DEM in late 2016.
The database of rare animals in
Rhode Island is in the process of being updated and should be completed by the
end of the year.
This article first appeared on EcoRI.org on February 12, 2017.
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