We dedicate this book to all those whose life work is to protect and restore diversity.

Restoring Diversity

Strategies for Reintroduction of Endangered Plants

Edited by Donald A. Falk Constance 1. Millar

Margaret Olwell

Foreword by Reed F. Noss

Center for Plant Conservation Missouri Botanical Garden

ISLAND PRESS Washington, D.C .• Covelo, California

Copyright © 1996 by Island Press

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conven­tions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher: Island Press, 1718 Con­necticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009.

ISLAND PRESS is a trademark of The Center for Resource Economics.

Grateful acknowledgment is expressed by the authors for permission to use the following material:

Excerpt from THE FAMILY REUNION copyright © 1939 by T. S. Eliot and re. newed 1967 by Esme Valerie Eliot, reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace & Company.

Figures CSS-l and CSS-2 appeared previously in "Recovery Planning and Rein­troduction of the Federally Threatened Pitcher·s Thistle (Cirsium pitcheri) in Illinois," Natural Areas Journal 13:164-76; and in Recovery of Endangered Species, eds. M. Bowles, and C. Whelan, Cambridge University Press, 1994. Reprinted with the permission of Cambridge University Press.

No copyright claim is made in "The Regulatory and Policy Context." "FOCUS: Reintroducing Endangered Hawaiian Plants," "FOCUS: Pinus T01Teyana atthe Torrey Pine State Reserve, CaHfiornia," "Rare Plant Mitigation: A Policy Per­spective," "Pediocactus Knowltonii," and "Texas Snowballs (Styrax Texana)

, Reintroduction," works produced by employees of the U. S. government.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Restoring diversity: strategies for reintroduction of endangered plants / editors. Donald A. Falk, Constance I. Millar. Margaret Olwell.

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 1-55963-296-8 (cloth). - ISBN 1-55963-297-6 (paper). 1. Plant reintroduction. 2. Endangered plants. 3. Restoration ecology.

I. Falk, Donald A. II. Millar, Constance I. III. Olwell. Margaret. QK86.4.R47 1996 95-18936 581.5'29-dc20 CIP

Printed on recycled, acid-free paper e @

Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents I :

Acknowledgments IX

Foreword Reed F. Noss XI

Introduction The Editors XIll

PART ONE ----­

The Environmental and Policy Context for Reintroduction 3

1. Plant Rarity and Endangerment in No;th America Larry E. Morse

2. Reintroduction in a Changing Climate Lynn S. Kutner and Larry E. Morse

3. Spatial and Biological Scales in Reintroduction Peter S. White

4- The Regulatory and Policy Context Charles B. McDonald

5. FOCUS: Reintroducing Endangered Hawaiian Plants Loyal A. Mehrhoff

---~-, PARTTWO -,----

The Biology of Rare Plant Reintroduction 121

6. Defining and Measuring Success Bruce M. Pavlik

7. Selecting Reintroduction Sites PeOO)' L. Fiedler and Richard D. Laven

bb h· G . d 8. Designing Populations: Demograp IC, enehc, an Horticultural Dimensions Edward O. Gllerrant, Jr.

9. Lessons from Ecological Theory: Dispersal, Establishment, and Population Structure Richard B. Primack

10. Monitoring Robert D. Sutter

11. FOCUS: Pinus torreyana at the Torrey Pines State Reserve, California F. Thomas Ledig

7

101

'57

'7'

vii

Vlll

---~-, PARTTHREE -,---­

Reintroduction in a Mitigation Context 273

12. Rare Plant Mitigation: A Policy Perspective 279 Ken S. Berg

'3. Translocation As a Mitigation Strategy: Lessons 293 from California Ann M. Howald

'4- Ecological Function and Sus.tainability in 33' Created Wetlands Joy B. Zedler

'5. Use of Corporate Lands 343 Brian J. Klatt and Ronald S. Niemann

16. New Directions for Rare Plant Mitigation Policy 363 Michael J. Bean

'7. FOCUS: Rare Plant Mitigation in Florida 373 George D. Gann and Noel L. Gerson

---~,- PART FOUR ~----

Case Studies 395

1. Experimental Reintroduction of Stephanomeria malheurensis 399 Edward O. Guerrant, Jr.

2. Knowlton's Cactus (Pediocactus knowltonii) Reintroduction 403 Ann Cully

3. Texas Snowbells (Styrax texana) Reintroduction 4" Charles B. McDonald

4. Apalachicola Rosemary (Conradina glabra) Reintroduction 4'7

Doria R. Gordon 5. Pitcher's Thistle (Cirsium pitcheri) Reintroduction 423

Marlin Bowles and Jeanette McBride 6. Southern Appalachian Rare Plant Reintroductions on 433

Granite Outcrops Bart R. Johnson T Small Whorled Pogonia (Iso tria medeoloides) 445

Transplant Project William E. Brumback and Carol W Fyler

---~- PART FIVE ~--­

Guidelines for Developing a Rare Plant Reintroduction Plan 453

About the Contributors 49'

Index 495

Acknowledgments l e

A multi-year, multi-faceted project such as this requires the efforts of many tal­ented, dedicated people, only a few of whom are publicly identified with the outcome. Here we would like to acknowledge the efforts of the people and in­stitutions who made this work possible.

The catalytic funding for this project was provided by The Joyce Founda­tion of Chicago, to whom we express our deepest thanks. Additional assistance was provided by the American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta, ARCO Foundation, Bureau of Land Management, Illinois Department of Conservation, International Union for the Conservation of Nature (Reintro­duction Specialists Group), Missouri Dep'artment of Conservation, Natural Areas Association, Society for Ecological Restoration, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S.D.A. Forest Service. We are extremely appreciative of the support provided by these institutions and hope that their ongoing contribu­tions to the conservation of biological diversity will be well recognized.

We are deeply grateful to the Center's host institution, the Missouri Botan­ical Garden, and in particular its director, Peter Raven, for consistent and en­thusiastic support of CPC generally and of this project in particular. Without his support, this project would have never come to fruition.

Special thanks are due to the staff, board, and Science Advisory Council of the Center for Plant Conservation, who organized and implemented the pro­gram. Staff members Marie Bruegmann and Gregory Wieland played the key roles in organizing the conference, with assistance from staff members Jeanne Cablish, Sheila Kilgore, Michael O'Neal, Grace Padberg, interim director Mick Richardson, and Science Advisory Council Chair Barbara Schaal (Washington University). We also thank CPC Executive Director Brien Meilleur for providing valuable assistance during the preparation and editing ofthis book.

Organization of the original study project and symposium, and initial work on the book, took place while two of us (Falk and Olwell) were on staff at the Center for Plant Conservation. Since major funding was acquired while we were still at the Center, and CPC provided much logistical support for all as­pects of symposium and book development, we wish to acknowledge this rela­tionship prominently. We thank the CPC, as well as Society for Ecological Restoration, and U.S.D.A. Forest Service, for granting us the time to complete the present work.

The twenty-five Participating Institutions of the Center for Plant Conserva­tion constitute some of the best expertise in the biology ofrare plant species to be found anywhere. Their staffs; who manage the National Collection of

IX

:0= e :

Guidelines for Developing a Rare Plant

Reintroduction Plan

454 GUIDELiNES FOR A RARE PLANT REINTRO

T he reintroduction of any species is inherently complex. gered species, the complexity is exacerbated by a shclfta,gi policies, effective models, and strong scientific '

As is clear from several chapters in this book, the science of tion is in its infancy; so too is the development of a policy guide the use of reintroduction as a conservation tooL This Dolicv ¥

most evident with regard to the relationship between i'Iltf()dllCilOg,j ulations and conserving existing ones-a relationship that reIna:ins ticulated. For example, the policy of the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN translocations as powerful tools that can materially advance the viability of populations and habitat but notes that "like other they have the potential to cause enormous damage if misused.' potential damage referred to-and much of the overall concern troduction - is that its use will in some way displace the impeJrativi serve existing populations and communities. The challenge, unlock the creative potential of reintroduction while guarding possible misuse. As the chapter on compensatory mitigation clearly, the ecological "meaning" of reintroduction depends whether the natural populations still exist, or if they are somehow course of a project.

This chapter is intended to assist biologists and managers co:nsi,de! use of reintroduction as a conservation tooL We have prepared lines in the belief that well-planned and well-executed reiJotf(Jduct contribute materially to the goals of biodiversity conservation. single book can answer all relevant questions, the chapters in Diversity provide an excellent basis for advancing the undel'standinl issues.

Re-establishment of populations is too variable to be reduced formulations; there is no cookbook of reintroduction recipes. We stead developed a series of questions that practitioners of reintr,odllCtj likely to encounter. To form the framework for a reintroduction ganizers of any well-planned project should be able, at a """"'ml,", vide coherent and well-researched answers to the following questllonl

Is reintroduction appropriate?

1. What guidance can be found in existing policies on rare spede:S.! duction?

2. What criteria can be used to determine whether a species reintroduced?

DnlNl" FOR A RARE PLANT REINTRODUCTION PLAN 455

lsrem.troductJon occurring in a mitigation context involving the loss or [Iteration of a natural population or community?

legal or regulatory considerations are connected with the reintro-

reintroduction be conducted?

are the defined goals of this reintroduction, and how will the pro­be monitored and evaluated?

available ecological knowledge of the species and its community reviewed? What additional knowledge is needed to conduct the

well?

owns the land where the reintroduction is to occur, and how will land be managed in the long term? ,

should the reintroduction occur?

is the genetic composition of the material to be reintroduced?

will the founding population be structured to favor demographic persistenc:e and stability?

essential ecological processes intact at the site? If not, how will they established?

questions and the discussions that follow can help the restorationist with the likely event that the operative environments more closely re­

the imperfect world of compromise than they do the ideaL Our in­is, if not to provide definitive answers, at least to provoke good ques­

other policy discussions (Falk and Olwell 1992; BGCI The guidelines are intended to be a template for further critical

about reintroduction. We hope that these ideas will serve as a foun­for scientists, agencies, non-government organizations, and others to

specific policies and handbooks relevant to their own work. have discussed, in length, the semantics associated with reintroduc-

introdluction, and augmentation in the Introduction to this book. tonltio,nists should consider these concepts when setting goals or se­

the site or the source materiaL Guidelines 5 and 8 discuss the dis­between reintroduction, introduction, and augmentation; there­have not redefined them here. biophysical aspects of a rare plant species-that is, the ecological