A large dandelion-like plant which was thought to be nearly extinct
in the state may actually be thriving. Scientists have recently uncovered
the plant growing locations throughout Western Pennsylvania. Brad
Linder has more.
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Playing hide and seek with plants.
15 years ago, there was only one known Prenanthes Crepidinea (Preh-nan-thiss
Krep-id-in-ee-uh) in Pennsylvania.
July 18, 2002
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By Dan Simon
Habitat destruction, landscapers, browsing deer. There are a number
of reasons why a plant species may become scare enough to merit the
concern of the environmental community.
Another complication is that some plant species do best in places
researchers have a lot of trouble reaching.
The Wildlife Resource Conservation Fund lists more than 350 plant
species that are considered endangered or threatened in Pennsylvania.
Many times though, it can be hard for even experts to have a good
handle on a plant's status, as proved by the Rattlesnake Root's example.
"What happens is we start by doing field inventories," said
Frank Felbaum, director of the office of the Wild Resource Conservation
Fund. "We go to designated herbarium records, and see where the
last of a type was validated."
Researchers examine what had been thought to be an extremely
rare plant. A Carnegie Museum botanist has discovered the
plant may actually number in the millions in Pennsylvania.
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Those records will be 50 to 100 years old Felbaum said. The researchers
then visit the recorded location.
"If successful, they will find a population," he explained.
"If not, they'll find a Wal-Mart or church parking lot or playground.
That's the first step. If in fact there are a very low number of occurrences
of the plant in the state, then it is classified as endangered, threatened
or as a candidate for protection."
Many of Pennsylvania's more than 2,200 species of native plants face
a triple whammy. Development is probably the most visible culprit,
but Felbaum brought up a pair of other threats.
"The natives are being out-competed by the exotic plants (non-native
species), plus some of them have become the favorite bill of fare
for the deer population," he explained.
"If you're a bald eagle being disturbed, you can pick up and
leave. If you're a native plant threatened by a bulldozer, you're
dead. So if you find one has survived in this remote location, maybe
it's because it's filled a niche. It's someplace where deer can't
get at it, it's not a location for development, and it's not close
enough to anything to bring exotics, so it's able to be successful."
Of course such places are also remote enough and hard enough to reach
that researchers have trouble getting there too.
Rattlesnake Root (Prenanthes Crepidinea) Photo by Bonnie
Issac
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"You may have to drive an hour, then hike five or six miles into
the woods to try and find a site from one of these 50-year-old records,"
he said. "And then it might be the wrong time of year to even
see the plant."
Several more problems make the plant researcher's job even harder.
Many plants' life cycles are such that they may only be visible during
brief periods each year-or worse, every other year. There also aren't
many researchers looking. The state has a native wild plants committee
made up of about 25 professionals, Felbaum said.
"They're kind of a botanical 'A' team," he said. "Plus
there's probably more people-college botany professors for example-looking
as well, but there's no set organization for people outside the committee."
To make matters worse, the best information available on many of these
plants is, in a word, incomplete.
"We don't know enough about plant developmental factors,"
Felbaum said. "How do you get that information on 2,200 plants?
There's a multitude of issues for plants, they don't just have a litter
each year.
"Our budget is only about a half million dollars a year. That
only scratches the surface. It should be twice that."
Then there are the plants that require something approaching pure
luck to figure out.
Felbaum described the efforts of a researcher who'd spent years searching
for a rare Chester County, Penn., plant.
"She was visiting a horse pasture looking for a completely different
plant," he said. "Suddenly she glimpsed a blue flower out
of the corner of her eye. It turned out to be the plant she'd been
searching for, for years."
An even more extreme example shows just how patient botanists need
to be.
"When Lake Erie was down the last two years we weren't seeing
a lot of a particular plant," he recalled. "The Long Low
Arrowhead showed up, but there were only about 18 of them. Then, once
the lakeshore's mud became dry and hard enough, over a thousand plants
appeared."
Felbaum explained a natural form of "seed banking" was taking
place with the species. The plants released seeds that would stay
dormant while under water and won't grow until conditions are just
right.
"This was the lowest level of Erie in something like a hundred
years I think," he said. "Sometimes nature has a way of
taking care of things."
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