Science is the Poetry of Reality

Nationally Known Entomologist Promtes Native Plants

Nationally known entomologist promotes native landscape plant use
Published: Feb 17, 2010 10:31 am - 0
By Connie Nelson
Star Tribune, Minneapolis
 Feb. 16--Douglas Tallamy might just turn your idea of gardening on its ear. That’s because Tallamy judges plants not by how they look, but by how they function in the environment.

 Tallamy, a professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware, has studied the link between native plants and native wildlife. What he’s learned is that the loss of native plants results in loss of native insects, which provide food for birds and other animals. In his book, "Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens," he argues that what we grow in our own back yards makes a difference in our world. He’ll bring that argument to town next week when he speaks at the Wild Ones conference.

 Q You have a unique take on gardens, don’t you?
 A Most gardeners look at plants as ornaments. I look at what they do. I just want people to realize their gardens have a function. We’ve designed our landscapes only for aesthetics. We put in pretty plants and if we see an insect, we kill it. That’s an extremely artificial environment. We’re not looking at our gardens as living, changing ecosystems.

 Q What’s wrong with looking to plants for pretty?
 A There’s nothing wrong with it, unless everybody does it. It’s imperative that we change the way we treat our landscapes. We have a serious extinction crisis on our hands. Ninety percent of all birds rear their young on insects. If there are no insects, then there will be no birds.

 Q Does one yard really make a difference?
 A We have this idea that nature is happy somewhere else. But we’ve taken 95 percent of nature. Fifty-four percent is in cities, 41 percent goes to farms. If nature is going to survive, it’s going to be in our yards and parks.

 Q You paint a dire picture. Are we that bad off?
 A Well, humans need nature. We need a biodiverse ecosystem to live. But we can learn to share. That’s my main point: We can coax nature back into our yards -- for our own good.

 Q Don’t we have nature in our yards already?
 A Well, a lawn is a pretty barren place, considering that many of them used to be forests. We’ve put some of the trees back, but they usually aren’t the ones that were there before. Plants provide food and shelter for insects and birds and other wildlife. But when you use plants that are from outside of our food web, they don’t participate.

 Q Can you give us an example?
 A Sure. If you have a typical yard you have a lot of grass and a couple of trees, say they’re ginkos. You may have a few birds that fly by, but your yard isn’t going to sustain those birds. Ginkos evolved in China, so if you plant one over here, the insects, birds and other animals in your yard don’t recognize it. It could just as well be a plastic tree.

 Q You don’t seem to be a fan of introduced species. You call non-natives "aliens."
 A I’m not against them, but from an ecological point of view, aliens are a bad thing. In the U.S., 85 percent of woody invasive plants are escapees from our gardens. And we’ve got more than 3,400 species of invasive plants.

 Q So, is going native the answer?
 A It’s not just about natives. It’s about trying to get more and more different kinds of plants -- true diversity -- even in small spaces. Woody plants have a much more powerful impact on diversity than perennials because they support a lot more insects, which in turn, support a lot more birds. If you can grow some native woodies and then plant a few alien perennials, you’d be meeting me halfway.

 Q Have native plants gotten a bad rap?
 A Natives haven’t been given a chance. Big growers are out there pushing cultivars, not natives. There’s not big money in them, so you don’t see splashy ad campaigns promoting natives.

 Q You have some radical ideas. Have you gotten push-back from gardeners?
 A No. Well, not yet anyway. What I hear people saying is, "Oh, I would never have thought of it that way." I’m not a garden insider, I’m an entomologist, so I can offer a different perspective. If I’ve gotten a few people to think about the function of their plants, then I’ve been successful.

 Connie Nelson --612-6763-7087
 DESIGN WITH NATURE
 What: A conference sponsored by the Wild Ones, a native plant and landscape group. Topics include soil restoration, growing native shrubs and trees, and creating natural habitats.
 When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 27.
 Where: Radisson Hotel, Roseville.
 Tickets: $45 for nonmembers, $20 for students. Registration closes Feb. 22.
 Info: 612-293-3833 or e-mail designwithnature.conferencegmail.com.

NASA Finding: Road Transportation Emerges as Key Driver of Warming

Road Transportation Emerges as Key Driver of Warming in New Analysis from NASA
ScienceDaily (Feb. 26, 2010)

For decades climatologists have studied the gases and particles that have potential to alter Earth's climate. They have discovered and described certain airborne chemicals that can trap incoming sunlight and warm the climate, while others cool the planet by blocking the Sun's rays.

In their analysis, motor vehicles emerged as the greatest contributor to atmospheric warming now and in the near term. Cars, buses, and trucks release pollutants and greenhouse gases that promote warming, while emitting few aerosols that counteract it.


The complete article can be found here.

Horoscope

Image by HelloMokona via Flickr

Virgo Aug 23 - Sept 22

There are those who would remove you from a position of authority at this time, were you to let them. It's time to be more firm and aggressive.

Rare Bird Alert

Thursday, February 25, 2010

 Dial-a-Bird is a service provided by your Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo Ornithological Society. Press (2) to leave a message, (3) for updates, meeting and field trip information and (4) for instructions on how to report sightings. To contact the Science Museum, call 896-5200.

 Highlights of reports received February 18 through February 25 from the Niagara Frontier Region include EARED GREBE, WILSON'S SNIPE, RUSTY BLACKBIRD, TURKEY VULTURE and NORTHERN SHRIKE.

 At Dunkirk Harbor, EARED GREBE continues on the east side of the main pier, providing close up viewing of a rare species. BALD EAGLES in the harbor included counts of 19, 13 and 11 during the past week.

 Also in the harbor, at least 14 waterfowl species highlighted by 591 COMMON GOLDENEYES and 341 BUFFLEHEADS, plus GADWALL, RING-NECKED DUCK, LESSER SCAUP, HOODED MERGANSER and RUDDY DUCK. Also, 7 PIED-BILLED GREBES, 2 HORNED GREBES, very low numbers of BONAPARTE'S GULLS, 2 GLAUCOUS GULLS, and on February 19, 727 GREAT BLACK-B. GULLS.

 In southern Chautauqua County, February 18, at the pond in the Town of Clymer, 4 WILSON'S SNIPE. Not often reported, WILSON'S SNIPE have a history of wintering in the Southern Tier. February 23, it was reported that 3 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS have been at a feeder this winter in Jamestown.

 Small numbers of TURKEY VULTURES also winter in the region, but a TURKEY VULTURE over the Town of Lewiston on February 21 would likely be among the the first migrants.

 One of the few reports this winter of NORTHERN SHRIKE - February 19 to 21 on Mapleton Road in the Town of North Tonawanda.

 From the upper Niagara River this week - Two adult BALD EAGLES at Navy Island. 4 more BALD EAGLES, 124 TUNDRA SWANS and over 7000 CANVASBACKS between Strawberry and Motor Islands. 12 LESSER SCAUP still at Mid-river Marina in Tonawanda. MERLIN roosting in the loop drive woods at Beaver Island State Park. PEREGRINE FALCON on the lock at Squaw Island Park in Buffalo's Black Rock section and another PEREGRINE FALCON on the south Grand Island bridge.

 On the lower Niagara River, 2 LITTLE GULLS among several hundred BONAPARTE'S GULLS at the Lewiston Docks, and abundant LONG-TAILED DUCKS and WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS continue off Fort Niagara State Park at Lake Ontario.

 Also this week - at the Dunkirk Airport, 2 BALD EAGLES, NORTHERN FLICKER, 12 AMERICAN ROBINS and 2 WHITE-THR. SPARROWS. In the Iroquois Refuge and Tonawanda Wildlife Management Area, 4 PILEATED WOODPECKERS. And on Youngstown-
 Wilson Road in Porter, 12 HORNED LARKS and 160 SNOW BUNTINGS. 

Rock Climbing in the Niagara Gorge Harms Cliff Ecosystems

Here's another reason to protect the Niagara Gorge. Click the blue text to read the article on the Science Daily webpage.

ScienceDaily (Apr. 3, 2002) — While it stands to reason that rock climbers might harm habitats such as the ancient, stunted forests that grow on cliffs around the world, there has been little unambiguous evidence that this is so. Now the first study to isolate rock climbing from other factors confirms that the sport damages cliff ecosystems. "Our work clearly shows that rock outcrop ecosystems suffer dramatically when exposed to recreational rock climbing," says Douglas Larson of the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. This work is presented in the April issue of Conservation Biology by Larson and Michele McMillan, who is also of the University of Guelph.

---

See Also:

Plants & Animals

• Endangered Plants
• Nature
• Ecology Research

Trends & Issues

Reference

• Coastal erosion
• Ivy
• Lichen
• Slash and burn

The popularity of rock climbing has soared in North America over the last 20 years, disturbing areas that had been untouched for ages. However, previous studies on the ecological effects of rock climbing have been contradictory.

McMillan and Larson studied the ecological effects of rock climbing on vegetation (vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens) on the heavily-climbed limestone cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment, which is near Toronto in southern Ontario. These cliffs have the most ancient forest east of the Rocky Mountains, with eastern white cedars that are more than 1,000 years old. The researchers compared the vegetation on three parts -- the top edge (plateau), the middle (cliff face) and the base (talus) -- of climbed and unclimbed cliffs.

The researchers found that rock climbing greatly decreases the diversity of vegetation on cliffs. Notably, climbed faces had only 4% as many vascular plant species as those that were unclimbed. Moreover, the diversity of bryophytes and lichens in climbed areas were roughly 30 and 40% of that in climbed areas, respectively.

Rock climbing also decreases the cover of vegetation on cliffs. For vascular plants, the cover on climbed plateau and talus was roughly 60% of that on unclimbed areas. For bryophytes, the cover on climbed plateau and talus was about a fifth of that on unclimbed areas. While climbing did not affect the extent of lichen cover, it did change the types of species that grow on cliffs. Delicate lichen species were replaced by tough ones: in unclimbed areas the most common lichens are so fragile that they crumble to the touch, while in climbed areas the most common lichens are so sturdy that they can even withstand rubbing.
McMillan and Larson also found that in climbed areas, the proportion of non-native plants was three times higher (81 vs. 27%). Rock climbing reduces plant density, thus increasing the number of sites where non-native plants can grow. Furthermore, rock climbers can introduce seeds and living pieces of non-native plants via their shoes, clothing and equipment.

To help protect cliff ecosystems, McMillan and Larson recommend banning new climbing routes in protected areas along the Niagara Escarpment, and explaining why to rock climbing associations and schools. "Recreationists are far more likely to abide by management plans when they are aware of the ecological rationale behind the restrictions," say the researchers.  

Rare Bird Alert

Image by Larry Meade via Flickr

Website: www.BOSBirding.org

 Thursday, February 18, 2010

 Dial-a-Bird is a service provided by your Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo Ornithological Society. Press (2) to leave a message, (3) for updates, meeting and field trip information and (4) for instructions on how to report sightings. To contact the Science Museum, call 896-5200.

 Highlights of reports received February 11 through February 18 from the Niagara Frontier Region include EARED GREBE, BALD EAGLES and KING EIDERS.

 February 18, on Lake Erie at Dunkirk Harbor, an EARED GREBE off main pier. To the east of the harbor, on the outer ice rim, an exceptional count of 19 BALD EAGLES, including 9 adults. Also in the harbor, HORNED GREBE, PIED-BILLED GREBE, over 500 each of COMMON GOLDENEYE and COMMON MERGANSER, LESSER SCAUP, 21 GREAT BLUE HERONS, GLAUCOUS GULL residing along the pier, 400 GREAT BLACK-B. GULLS, and only 11 BONAPARTE'S GULLS.

 February 13 and 14, waterfowl on the Niagara River above the Peace Bridge included 3, distant, KING EIDERS - a winter male and female, and an immature male, seen from the Erie Basin Marina tower in Buffalo.

 On the Niagara River at Fort Niagara State Park, over 2000 LONG-TAILED DUCKS, 436 WHITE-WINGED SCOTERS and 3 SURF SCOTERS, counted from the park boat launch Off the main parking lot, 76 RED-THROATED LOONS on Lake Ontario, about a half mile offshore.

 Other Niagara River reports this week - 24 LESSER SCAUP at the Mid-river Marina in Tonawanda. At the north Grand Island bridges, 500 CANVASBACKS, 6 TUNDRA SWANS and 20 GREAT BLACK-
 B. GULLS. Among abundant LONG-TAILED DUCKS at the boat launch in Lewiston, LITTLE GULL, ICELAND GULL, and a NELSON'S GULL, the hybrid of GLAUCOUS and HERRING GULL. And at Goat Island in Niagara Falls, New York, THAYER'S GULL, 4 ICELAND GULLS, 3 L. BLACK-B. GULL and GLAUCOUS GULL.

 In the Niagara County Town of Hartland, at least 9 SHORT-
 EARED OWLS on Wruck Road, just south of Route 104. These owls are typically observed from the shoulder of the road at dusk and dawn. GREAT HORNED OWLS this week on Francis Road in Bethany, and on Feeder Road, north of Route 77 in the Iroquois Refuge.

 Also this week, a striking, mostly white-plumaged RED-W. BLACKBIRD among 150 RED-W. BLACKBIRDS on Porter Center Road. And, 170 SNOW BUNTINGS and 45 HORNED LARKS on Tufts Road in the Town of Pavilon, outside Batavia.

Ecological Design

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Ecological design was defined by Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan as "any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes."[1] Ecological design is an integrative, ecologically responsible design discipline. It helps connect scattered efforts in green architecture, sustainable agriculture, ecological engineering, ecological restoration and other fields. Ecological design is both a profoundly hopeful vision and a pragmatic tool. By placing ecology in the foreground of design, it provides specific ways of minimizing energy and material use, reducing pollution, preserving habitat, restoring ecosystems, inventing landscapes, and fostering community, health and beauty. [2] Ecological design provides a new way of thinking about human interventions into the natural world by going beyond many streams of environmentalism, which often merely call for a minimization of human impacts on the natural world. Ecological design thus can be defined as a careful and deliberate form of human intervention with the natural environment that attempts to improve natural conditions or reverse environmentally destructive impacts.[3]

Restoration Ecology Defined

Restoration Ecology.
A field in the science of conservation that is concerned with the application of ecological principles to restoring degraded, derelict, or fragmented ecosystems. The primary goal of restoration ecology (also known as ecological restoration) is to return a community or ecosystem to a condition similar in ecological structure, function, or both, to that existing prior to site disturbance or degradation.

A reference framework is needed to guide any restoration attempt—that is, to form the basis of the design (for example, desired species composition and density) and monitoring plan (for example, setting milestones and success criteria for restoration projects). Such a reference system is derived from ecological data collected from a suite of similar ecosystems in similar geomorphic settings within an appropriate biogeographic region. Typically, many sites representing a range of conditions (for example, pristine to highly degraded) are sampled, and statistical analyses of these data reveal what is possible given the initial conditions at the restoration site. See also Ecology, applied.

Ecology Defined

Ecology - Definition
Related Words: Anatomy, Anthropology, Astrobiology, Autecology, Bacteriology, Biochemistry, Biology, Biometrics, Biometry, Bionics, Bionomics, Biophysics, Botany, Conchology, Cryobiology, Cybernetics, Cytology

Ecology is the branch of science that studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms, and the interactions between organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes both its physical habitat, which can be described as the sum of local abiotic factors like climate and geology, as well as the other organisms which share its habitat. The term was coined in 1866 by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel from the Greek oikos meaning "household" and logos meaning "science:" the "study of the household of nature."

Ecological systems are studied at several different levels from individuals and populations to ecosystems and biosphere level. Ecology is a multi-disciplinary science, drawing on many other branches of science.

Applied ecology is the practice of employing ecological principles and understanding to solve real world problems. Examples include measuring the economic worth of ecosystems, calculating fishing quotas, measuring environmental impact from construction or logging, building a case for the conservation of a species, and determining the most effective way to protect a species.

In a broader sense, ecology can also mean:
the natural environment, or an analysis or study using the principles and methods of ecology.
For example, human ecology looks at humans and their interactions with the natural environment. Political ecology takes on both alternative meanings, and may use ecology's methods in a new context by looking at interactions of societies and states rather than species or populations, but may also mean politics related to environmental issues.

Ecology, as a scientific discipline, does not itself dictate what is right or wrong. However maintaining biodiversity within ecosystems and related ecological goals (such as preventing species extinctions) have become scientific ways to express the goals of environmentalism and has given scientific methodology, measure, and terminology to environmental issues, making the two heavily linked. A holistic view is also stressed in both ecology and environmentalism.

Not an Ordinary Rail Bed (Railroad Mills Special Environmental Area - A Unique Part of the Auburn Trail Extension)

Not an Ordinary Rail Bed (Railroad Mills Special Environmental Area - A Unique Part of the Auburn Trail Extension)

Nature's Kidneys

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From our friends at Rochester Environment, the opening article on their RENenvironment newsletter.

“Nature’s Kidneys”

Though we tend not to consider our wetlands until they get in the way of a development project, they play a unique ecological role.  They are like our kidneys, a filtration organ cleansing our environment.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), using more rigorous language, defines wetlands as "those areas that are inundated or saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas." Wetlands | US EPA

Given such a critical role, you’d think we’d be more careful with our wetlands.  Au contraire:  “In the 1600s, over 220 million acres of wetlands are thought to have existed in the lower 48 states. Since then, extensive losses have occurred, and over half our original wetlands have been drained and converted to other uses. Between the 1950s and 1970s an estimated 58,500 acres of wetlands were lost” (EPA 1995).

Nowadays, perhaps feeling a little guilty (or simply better at tweaking our laws), wetland mitigation or offsets help us get around the legality of destroying those inconvenient soggy lands by allowing us to build another wetland someplace else.  That kind of structural relocating makes sense if you’re renovating an old house and want the bathroom on the third floor instead of the first.  Trouble is recreating a wetland that took thousands of years to weave itself into the infinite biological matrix called Nature cannot be so easily replicated by a backhoe and a garden hose. Many experts think that constructed wetlands don’t really capture at all the breathtaking complexity that is a wetland. 

When I think that we have destroyed over 50% of our wetlands here in America during the last five-hundred years, I’m reminded of the total decimation of the Easter Island forests that Jared Diamond describes in “Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail.” Generations of Easter Islanders used the once plentiful trees to roll great stone icons across the island.  They didn’t ‘see’ that they were destroying their environment because it happened so slowly.  A single generation of islanders would think the relative loss of trees sustainable—if they thought about such things at all.  But you have to wonder: Halfway through this forest destruction (for Easter Island civilization collapsed when the trees were gone), was there a moment when someone foresaw the calamity to come? 

Just in the same way, we have destroyed much of what was biologically in place when we had a healthy environment.  Now, it’s questionable. We are often such hasty folks that we simply marvel at our particular longevity (some of us make it to one hundred) and forget our life spans are but fleeting moments to Nature.  . 

February second was World Wetlands Day.  “It marks the date of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea.”  It went by unnoticed in our local media.  But Nature, because it is simply a mindless biological algorithm, never forgets.

FrankRegan@RochesterEnvironment.com

Thought of the Day

INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself. --Harvey Fierstein

NY Natural Heritage Program - Federal Law Regulates "Taking" of endangered and threaened plants when they are affected by federal actions or the use of federal funds.

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Federal Law

One of the results of the environmental movement of the 1960s and 70s was the enactment of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (see the offsite link in the right-hand column of this page). The Act was designed to prevent the extinction of plants and animals, addressing problems of both exploitation and habitat destruction. The Act defines an endangered species as any species of animal or plant that is in danger of extinction over all or a significant portion of its range. A threatened species is defined as one that is likely to become endangered. The Act regulates the "taking" of endangered and threatened plants on federal land or when they are affected by federal actions or the use of federal funds. Specific protection is outlined in the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and states: It is unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to:

1. import any such species into, or export any such species from, the United States;
2. remove and reduce to possession any such species from areas under Federal jurisdiction; maliciously damage or destroy any such species on any such area; or remove, cut, dig up, or damage or destroy any such species on any other area in knowing violation of any law or regulation of any state or in the course of any violation of a state criminal trespass law;
3. deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship in interstate or foreign commerce, by any means whatsoever and in the course of a commercial activity, any such species;
4. sell or offer for sale in interstate or foreign commerce any such species; or
5. violate any regulation pertaining to such species or to any threatened species of plants pursuant to section 4 of this Act and promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to authority provided by this Act.

Exceptions to these provisions include seeds of cultivated threatened plants, under certain circumstances possession of plants in a conservation program by an employee or designate of the Service and those plants exempted by a special rule.
A particularly important section of the Act promotes the conservation of habitats of endangered and threatened species. The Act authorized the acquisition of land for the protection of habitats of these species and directs federal agencies to ensure that their activities or those authorized or funded by them do not jeopardize the continued existence of endangered and threatened species.
The Act prescribes strict procedural guidelines for determination of status and listing of species. These provide that species be listed only after extensive input and review by biologists, the states and the general public. This procedure insures that only species in need of protection are listed, and it provides baseline data from which further population monitoring may proceed.
Presently, 11 New York rare plants are on the federal endangered and threatened list:

Endangered

Agalinis acuta - Sandplain Gerardia - presently known from Long Island
Schwalbea americana - Chaffseed - historically known from the Albany Pine Bush
Scirpus ancistrochaetus - Northeastern Bulrush - historically known from Washington County

Threatened

Aconitum noveboracense - Northern Monk's-hood - presently known from the Catskills
Amaranthus pumilus - Seabeach Amaranth - presently known from Long Island
Asplenium scolopendrium var. americanum - Hart's Tongue Fern - presently known from Central New York
Helonias bullata - Swamp Pink - historically known from Staten Island
Isotria medeoloides - Small Whorled Pogonia - historically known from Central and Eastern New York and Long Island
Platanthera leucophaea - Prairie Fringed Orchid - historically known from Central New York
Rhodiola integrifolia ssp. leedyi - Leedy's Roseroot - presently known from the Finger Lakes Region
Oligoneuron houghtonii - Houghton's Goldenrod - presently known from Western New York
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulates federally endangered and threatened plants. This includes listing new species, developing recovery plans, reviewing projects, and assessing damage and penalties when plants are impacted. For this region, there are offices in Boston, MA; Cortland, NY; and Islip, Long Island.

State Laws and Regulations

Rare plants have been protected in New York State since 1933. After a long history of expanded protection efforts, the latest regulation was enacted in June 1989 and includes three rarity categories (endangered, threatened, and rare) and one non-rare protection category (exploitably vulnerable).
The categories of the rare plant protected list are defined as follows: Endangered Species: listed species are those with

1. 5 or fewer extant sites, or
2. fewer than 1,000 individuals, or
3. restricted to fewer than 4 U.S.G.S. 7 1/2 minute topographical maps, or
4. species listed as endangered by the U. S. Department of Interior, as enumerated in the Code of Federal Regulations 50 CFR 17.11.

Threatened: listed species are those with

1. 6 to fewer than 20 extant sites, or
2. 1,000 to fewer than 3,000 individuals, or
3. restricted to not less than 4 or more than 7 U.S.G.S. 7 1/2 minute topographical maps, or
4. listed as threatened by the U. S. Department of the Interior, as enumerated in the Code of Federal Regulations 50 CFR 17.11.

Rare: listed species have

1. 20 to 35 extant sites, or
2. 3,000 to 5,000 individuals statewide.

Exploitably vulnerable: listed species are likely to become threatened in the near future throughout all or a significant portion of their range within the state if causal factors continue unchecked.
The exploitably vulnerable category contains plants that are likely to be picked for commercial and personal purposes and affords the landowner extra protection ability.
Rare plants included on the list are protected under New York State Environmental Conservation Law section 9-1503. Part (f) of the law reads as follows: "It is a violation for any person, anywhere in the state to pick, pluck, sever, remove, damage by the application of herbicides or defoliants, or carry away, without the consent of the owner, any protected plant. Each protected plant so picked, plucked, severed, removed, damaged or carried away shall constitute a separate violation." Violators of the regulation are subject to fines of $25 per plant illegally taken.
The Nature Conservancy established the New York Natural Heritage Program in 1985 as a contract unit within the DEC. The program assumed from the state museum the job of compiling a status list for rare plants in the state. Each year a rare plant status review meeting is sponsored by the Natural Heritage Program botanist to review the ranks and taxonomy of the listed plants. The meeting includes the state botanist, a DEC representative, and other botanists from around the state who are familiar with rare plants. After the meeting the list is updated and each plant is assigned a global and state rarity rank devised by The Nature Conservancy. This list has no legal status but is used by the DEC as a basis for the legal protected list that they produce. Since it is updated yearly it often differs slightly from the DEC list which is updated over a multi-year time frame.
Since the Heritage Program began the status list has changed significantly. On the positive side many plants that were originally thought to be rare were shown to be more common after historical sites and potential habitat were searched. Over 70 plants that had not been seen in over 20 years were rediscovered, many of them with historical records over 50 years old. On the negative side many plants were determined to be extirpated from the state after years of searching failed to turn up a single plant. As time goes by and we gather more information on the status of rare plants the lists will become more refined and accurate.

State Environmental Quality Review Act and Lead Agency Regulations

In New York State, when a development or other type of project is proposed that may affect rare plants, an environmental impact assessment may be required as prescribed by the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR). The SEQR process considers the environmental factors of a project and assists in the decision-making process at the earliest possible time.

Rare and Covered Plants

The issue with conserving the pollinators of rare plants is two-fold: often the pollinator of a particular plant is not known, and if it is, the biology and particular habitat needs of that pollinator may not be known.

There is limited published research on conserving pollinators related to rare plants. One exception is a paper by Snipes and Tepedino (1995) discussing the conservation of Ute ladies tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis), a rare orchid found in Colorado and Utah. The authors found that bumblebees were the most important pollinators, even though they visited for nectar only; the orchids’ pollinaria were attached while the bees nectared. The authors recommended that management of the orchid must include consideration of bumble bees, particularly avoiding disturbance to habitat, protecting and retaining nest sites, providing flowers throughout bumble bee season (nectar and pollen when orchid is not blooming, pollen while it is), and establishing an insecticide-free buffer during grasshopper control spraying. This last recommendation, obviously, is specific to the location of the orchid. Grasshopper control is likely not an issue for Yolo County [and Niagara County], but pesticide use in the area adjacent to rare plants certainly is.

Key Points
• Little is known about the pollinators of rare plants

• Specific conservation strategies are hard to prepare without detailed information on the habitat needs of pollinators.

Source: Yolo Natural Heritage Program (HCP/NCCP) Pollinator Conservation Strategy
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Portland, OR / Sacramento, CA

Rare Bird Alert - Feb. 4, 2010

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Thursday February 4, 2010

Dial-a-Bird is a service provided by your Buffalo Museum of Science and the Buffalo Ornithological Society. Press (2) to leave a message, (3) for updates, meeting and field trip information and (4) for instructions on how to report sightings. To contact the Science Museum, call 896-5200.

Waterfowl were the highlight of reports received January 28 through February 4 from the Niagara Frontier Region.

Abundant waterfowl continue on the upper Niagara River off Beaver Island State Park on Grand Island. January 29, a mixed flock of over 10,000 SCAUP, CANVASBACK and REDHEADS, a dense flock of 6000 CANVASBACKS, and thousands of COMMON MERGANSERS and COMMON GOLDENEYES scattered among the ice floes. February 2 at Beaver Island, 271 TUNDRA SWANS and 71 GREAT BLUE HERONS, plus 2 BALD EAGLES. BALD EAGLES also reported nearby on the Beaver Island Parkway and the park golf course.

Also February 2, in Tonawanda at the Mid-river Marina on River Road, 26 LESSER SCAUP and an AMERICAN COOT. At Goat Island in Niagara Falls, New York, 30 GADWALL, 3 AMERICAN WIGEON, NORTHERN PINTAIL and 2 HOODED MERGANSERS, plus ICELAND GULL and 2 L. BLACK-B. GULLS. Also at Goat Island - BROWN CREEPER, GOLDEN-CR. KINGLET, 20 AMERICAN ROBINS and WHITE-THR. SPARROW.

January 30 in the Iroquois Refuge, a pair of NORTHERN HARRIERS on Feeder Road near Route 77, and 2 BALD EAGLES near the nest at Cayuga Pool.

NORTHERN SHRIKE, January 30, at the towers on Warner Hill Road in the southern Erie County Town of Wales.

Other reports - PEREGRINE FALCON atop the south Grand Island bridges. A pair of WOOD DUCKS wintering with 75 MALLARDS on Ellicott Creek at St. Rita's Lane by the UB Amherst Campus. And a WHITE-THR. SPARROW at a feeder on Grand Island.

Dial-a-Bird will be updated Thursday evening, February 11. Please call in your sightings by noon Thursday. You may report sightings after the tone. Thank you for calling and reporting to Dial-a-Bird.

Rare Plants and the Law

Plant Rarity and The Law

Various government laws, regulations and policies protect rare plants. Probably the most surprising aspect of rare plant protection is that, unlike animals, plants are the property of the landowner whether that might be an individual, corporation, or government agency. This means that the protection of rare plants is under control of the landowner unless, in some cases, a government-regulated action is affecting them. Then the government entity regulating the action may require that protection efforts take place to preserve the rare plants and their habitat.
Federal Law

One of the results of the environmental movement of the 1960s and 70s was the enactment of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (see the offsite link in the right-hand column of this page). The Act was designed to prevent the extinction of plants and animals, addressing problems of both exploitation and habitat destruction. The Act defines an endangered species as any species of animal or plant that is in danger of extinction over all or a significant portion of its range. A threatened species is defined as one that is likely to become endangered. The Act regulates the "taking" of endangered and threatened plants on federal land or when they are affected by federal actions or the use of federal funds. Specific protection is outlined in the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and states: It is unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to:

1. import any such species into, or export any such species from, the United States;
2. remove and reduce to possession any such species from areas under Federal jurisdiction; maliciously damage or destroy any such species on any such area; or remove, cut, dig up, or damage or destroy any such species on any other area in knowing violation of any law or regulation of any state or in the course of any violation of a state criminal trespass law;
3. deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship in interstate or foreign commerce, by any means whatsoever and in the course of a commercial activity, any such species;
4. sell or offer for sale in interstate or foreign commerce any such species; or
5. violate any regulation pertaining to such species or to any threatened species of plants pursuant to section 4 of this Act and promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to authority provided by this Act.

Exceptions to these provisions include seeds of cultivated threatened plants, under certain circumstances possession of plants in a conservation program by an employee or designate of the Service and those plants exempted by a special rule.

A particularly important section of the Act promotes the conservation of habitats of endangered and threatened species. The Act authorized the acquisition of land for the protection of habitats of these species and directs federal agencies to ensure that their activities or those authorized or funded by them do not jeopardize the continued existence of endangered and threatened species.

The Act prescribes strict procedural guidelines for determination of status and listing of species. These provide that species be listed only after extensive input and review by biologists, the states and the general public. This procedure insures that only species in need of protection are listed, and it provides baseline data from which further population monitoring may proceed.

Presently, 11 New York rare plants are on the federal endangered and threatened list

Thought of the Day

WORD FOR THE DAY
Monday, Feb. 1
Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot un-educate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.
Cesar Chavez
Address to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Nov. 9, 1984

New York's Super Fund Sites

Great Lakes Echo has a map listing all of the superfund sites here.

http://projects.publicintegrity.org/Superfund/iysDetails.aspx?st=NY