By TODD McLEISH/ecoRI News contributor
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| Volunteer botanists, however, did find purple milkweed in West Warwick, R.I. (M.W. Fisher/Flickr) |
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.
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 Rhode Island, 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 many of the changes to the database were the result of
increased efforts by a large number of volunteer botanists such as 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.
Electric utilities often seeks information about rare species
found on their transmission corridors as they make upgrades to power lines.
Many groups and individuals were involved in updating the list,
including representatives from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management, U.S. Fish & 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 being updated and
should be completed by the end of the year.
Rhode Island
resident and author Todd McLeish runs a wildlife blog.
