Conservation Archives - Kentucky Native Plant Society Sandbox

Wood Lily (Lilium phildelphicum) Conservation in the Cumberland Plateau

**^{Wood lily (Lilium philadelphicum), Laurel County, Kentucky. @Littlefield}**

By Tara Littlefield, Botanist and Plant Conservation Manager

The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and partners have been working on a project to protect, connect, and restore populations of the state endangered wood lily (Lilium phildelphicum), and its Pine Barrens and woodland habitat over the past decade in Kentucky. The wood lily, while globally secure and wide ranging, is state endangered in Kentucky despite once being more common. This charismatic plant of the Cumberland Plateau grassland and woodlands (barrens) has declined by over 90% in the past 40 years due to habitat loss, lack of fire, mowing, and herbivory. The wood lily, along with numerous other plants it grows with, make up critical pollinator habitat for species such as the monarch butterfly and native bees. We are working with partners to bring this plant and its habitat back from the brink of extinction by coordinating and implementing monitoring, management and restoration efforts. I am excited to announce that the wood lily has finally come full circle as a plant conservation alliance project from monitoring, collaboration, seed collection, site preparation and management, to now translocation back in managed pine barrens habitat in the Cumberland plateau!

A catalyst for the creation of the Kentucky Plant Conservation Alliance

The conservation efforts for the wood lily represents a shift in plant conservation direction in our state that has happened over the past decade. Funding and targeted conservation efforts have traditionally been focused on globally rare plants, plants that are listed under the Endangered Species Act and have specific federal funding tied to their recover efforts. Since I have worked at Kentucky Nature Preserves in 2005, the lack of staff and funding has always limited the number of projects and species we could reasonably work on outside of our federally listed plant program and state nature preserves site monitoring and management programs. Our efforts for federally listed plants were successful ,and we managed with limited monitoring on our state nature preserves and associated rare species that occurred on these lands. In addition to this work, we had identified so many other plant conservation needs for state listed species across the state that were falling through the cracks due to lack of staff, funding, time outreach and education. Our rare plant records were becoming historic, and the state listed rare plants that we were able to visit on private and public lands were rapidly declining or becoming extirpated since they were originally discovered in the 70s-90s due to various threats. The wood lily is one example of a species that was falling through the cracks.

How do you tackle issue of lack of staff, time and funding to accomplish larger missions beyond the feasible efforts of just a few dedicated staff? What was our approach to addressing these serious plant conservation issues? The key is partnerships and collaboration, and creating an outreach focus of spreading the mission into other organizations and individuals.

Wood lily Conservation History

The majority of the wood lily populations were discovered and documented in the 1970s and 1980s in over 10 counties scattered in the Cumberland plateau region. They were primarily found in powerlines and roadsides and nearby pine oak woodlands and barrens. Over the years, due to habitat loss, lack of fire, summer mowing, and herbivory the populations dwindled down to just a handful of populations. I worked on a project from 2011-2013 updating roadside rare plant populations in the Cumberland plateau region on and near the Daniel Boone National Forest and collected this data. It was alarming. If trends did not change, if threats were not mitigated, we may lose one of our beautiful native lily’s, among many other rare species and habitat, from our state in the near future. With some outreach, new partnerships were formed with KYTC transportation staff and roadside maintenance crews to alter mowing and other management of the rare plant populations. We partnered with David Taylor with the Daniel Boone National Forest and Jim Scheff and Tina Johnson of Kentucky Heartwood on additional monitoring and seed collection efforts. After a failed attempt at seed collection in 2016 due to extreme herbivory, we caged 27 plants scattered in the southern Cumberland plateau region to ensure seed collection in the fall. We knew it was important to propagate and seedbank these plants as soon as possible in order to transplant future plants into suitable habitat in the future. We needed to increase the number of viable populations and make up for some of of the many lost populations over the years.

**^{Jim Scheff of Kentucky Heartwood and Kendall McDonald of OKNP cage wood lily’s to prevent herbivory to ensure seed collection, June 2017. @ T. Littlefield}**

Seed was successfully collected in 2017 by OKNP, Heartwood, and KNPS volunteers and a new project with Margaret Shea of Dropseed Nursery began. Margaret is a amazing native plant horticulturalist with a rare plant conservation background. Her success at propagating the seeds, growing and safeguarding the plants until we are able to transplant into recipient pine barrens sites is crucial to the restoration and transplantation process.

**^{Margaret Shea @ Dropseed Nursery @H. Braunreiter}**

At the same time, land managers at the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, led by Josh Lillpop, began pine barrens restoration projects at on OKNP state nature preserves and natural areas in order to create more suitable pine barrens habiat for rare plants like the wood lily (Lilium phildelphicum), pine aster (Symphyotrichum concolor) and hairy snoutbean (Rhynchosia tomentosa). We partnered with staff at the Daniel Boone National Forest, including David Taylor, Claudia Cotton, Christy Wampler, and Jacob Royse who helped with population monitoring and connecting with existing pine barrens restoration efforts that could also provide future habitat for the wood lily. While our goal continued to be increasing networking with roadside and utility companies and staff on appropriate management practices for the existing rare pine barrens species, we also strived to create new populations within interior pine barrens restoration sites that are being managed with fire and mechanical removal of canopy, the pine barrens and savannah communities.

In the fall of 2021, 5 years after we began the project to protect the remaining populations and to propagate them for future introductions, the first transplantations finally began! A team from the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and Kentucky Plant Conservation Alliance volunteers transplanted wood lily bulbs into new several sites in Powell, Pulaski and Rockcastle counties that are being managed and restored to the pine barrens woodland community.

The November 2021 wood lily bulb planting team consisted of Tara Littlefield, Heidi Braunreiter, Rachel Cook, Vanessa Voelker, Ryan Fortenberry, Lexi Schoenloab, Dale Bonk, Jim Scheff and Tina Johnson. We quickly realized that a great planting tool for these tiny wood lily bulbs were spoons, hence the spoons in some of the group photos. We planted over 500 bulbs across 5 sites with plans to expand on our plantings and sites next year. Monitoring plots were installed and data was collected. Our team will be measuring the success of these plantings over the course of the next year and networking with land managers on future scheduled burns at these sites. Fingers crossed our wood lilies survive and flourish! Stay tuned!

Roadsides As Vital Habitat: An Old Idea Is Getting Its Due

By Tony Romano, OKNP botanist/Conservation Coordinator

Figure 1: A remnant grassland with eastern whiteflower beardtongue (Penstemon tenuiflorus) in Logan County

Grasslands are an increasingly rare plant community type in Kentucky and the southeastern United States. Kentucky has often been depicted as a continuous forest, but we now understand that grasslands (defined broadly here to include prairie, savanna, barrens, and woodland communities) were once much more widespread throughout the state. Estimates of pre-settlement grassland communities in Kentucky range from 2.5 to 3 million acres. These grasslands are now nearly gone, with less than 1 percent of natural prairie and barrens remaining today in Kentucky (Abernathy et al. 2010). Much of this loss can be attributed to direct conversion of habitat through agricultural and urban development. The cessation of historical disturbances such as fire and grazing by large herds of animals has allowed the remaining grasslands to be degraded and slowly converted into forests by woody succession.

Figure 2: Purple milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens), state watch list species, with great spangled fritillary (Speyeria cybele).

Figure 5: Ecologist and writer Aldo Leopold. Courtesy of the Aldo Leopold Foundation and University of Wisconsin-Madison Archives

Aldo Leopold, a name that looms large in ecology, recognized over 70 years ago that roadsides were some of the last bastions of the mid-west tallgrass prairie in Wisconsin and Illinois. Even in Leopold’s time, most of the tallgrass prairie in the mid-west was already lost to the same processes that have diminished Kentucky’s grasslands. A Sand County Almanac, a collection of Leopold’s essays published posthumously in 1949, is a seminal work of ecological and philosophical writing that continues to influence the thinking of ecologists and conservationists to this day. While re-reading Almanac this past winter, I was struck by two essays that had direct bearing on the topic of this article. In Prairie Birthday, Leopold describes a remnant prairie tucked in the corner of a cemetery which borders a highway. He describes a stand of compass plant (Silphium laciniatum), perhaps the last population in that county, that blooms each July in that cemetery. Sadly, the fence separating the prairie from the road is eventually removed and the Silphium is mowed. Leopold laments that “this is one little episode in the funeral of the native flora, which in turn is one episode in the funeral of the floras of the world.”

Recognizing that things don’t need to be this way, Leopold continues “…every highway is bordered by an idle strip as long as it is; keep cow, plow, and mower out of these idle spots, and the full native flora … could be part of the normal environment of every citizen.”

In a later essay, Illinois Bus Ride, Leopold describes the vestiges of native plants and animals that he observes out the window of a bus traveling through Illinois. He notes that “In the narrow thread of sod between the shaved banks and toppling fences grow the relics of what once was Illinois: the prairie.” The foresight of these essays, that roadside remnants would become vital for grassland conservation, is truly astounding.

Figure 6: Newly discovered roadside population of barrens silky aster (*Symphyotrichum pratense*)(G4/S3).

In recent years, roadsides and utility right-of-ways have been increasingly recognized by ecologists and land managers for their potential conservation value. Research has shown that roadsides can provide important habitat for many pollinating insects, including at-risk species like the monarch butterfly (Hopwood 2008). Because they are maintained in an open, grass dominated state, roadsides can also contain remnants of native grassland communities that support diverse and sometimes rare plant species. Importantly, research shows that intact, high-quality, grasslands provide some of the best habitat for pollinators due to the abundance and diversity of plant species that occur in these communities (Ries et al. 2001). In other words, if we can protect high-quality roadside grasslands, we will also be providing vital habitat to insect populations. Nationwide, approximately 10 million acres of roadside right-of-ways are managed by state transportation departments (Forman et al. 2003). If successfully managed for native plant species, ten million acres is a tremendous amount of potential pollinator and grassland habitat.

Fortunately, Leopold’s old idea has gained traction. At the federal level, an important 2014 Presidential Memorandum addressed concerns over the monarch butterfly and declining populations of important pollinating insects. The memo directed federal agencies to increase or improve pollinator habitat nationwide (White House 2014). The memo additionally directed the Federal Department of Transportation to work with state departments of transportation to promote pollinator friendly practices. In accordance with this memo, the Federal Highway Administration researched and published several documents outlining best management practices (BMPs) and restoration techniques for managing roadside right-of-ways for native plants and pollinating insects (U.S. Department of Transportation, 2016).

Figure 8: OKNP’s progress so far on roadside pollinator habitat and grassland surveys

Figure 9: Appalachian rosinweed (*Silphium wasiotense*) a globally rare plant (G3/S that thrives on roadsides.

In the Commonwealth, the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves (OKNP) and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) have partnered on a 5-year project to survey all of the state maintained roads for high-quality pollinator and grassland habitat. KYTC maintains approximately 31,000 miles of roadside right-of-way which includes the interstates, US highways, and all state highways. Surveys began in 2020, and so far our botanists have surveyed over 13,000 miles of road in over 40 counties. We have evaluated over 200 sites for pollinator habitat and have identified over 30 high-quality grasslands. We also identified over 20 additional sites that do not necessarily meet high-quality grassland criteria, but still provide important habitat for certain rare plant species like the Appalachian Rosinweed (Silphium wasiotense). This Silphium is a globally rare species (G3/S3), endemic to Kentucky and Tennessee, that thrives on forest edges along roads in eastern Kentucky. In line with the goals of the Kentucky Pollinator Protection Plan (Kentucky Department of Agriculture 2019), once important sites are identified, we are working with KYTC to modify existing management to support and benefit these grassland communities and rare plant habitats. We believe this work will help preserve the full native flora of Kentucky.

Now, there is a second old idea in Leopold’s essays that I would like to briefly touch on if the reader will permit it. In addition to his concern over the retreating prairie, Leopold was once again ahead of his time when he observed what we would now call “plant blindness” in his contemporaries. In Illinois Bus Ride he comments that “No one in the bus sees these relics. A worried farmer … looks blankly at the lupines, lespedezas, or Baptisias … He does not distinguish them from the parvenu [exotic] quackgrass in which they grow.” Leopold continues “Were I to ask him the name of that white spike of pea-like flowers hugging the fence, he would shake his head. A weed, likely.” In Prairie Birthday he states the issue directly “We grieve only for what we know. The erasure of Silphium from western Dane County is no cause for grief if one knows it only as a name in a botany book.”

Figure 10: “…that white spike of pea-like flowers” isn’t a weed, its white wild indigo (*Baptisia leucantha*)!

Figure 12: Tony Romano, OKNP botanist, at a newly found and highly diverse roadside prairie.

Coined in 1998 by botanists Elisabeth Schussler and James Wandersee the term “plant blindness” refers to “the inability to see or notice the plants in one’s own environment” (Allen 2003). Plant blindness among the general public diminishes peoples understanding, interest, and connection to nature. Left untreated, plant blindness can result in declines in funding for plant biology education, research, and conservation initiatives. One of the primary missions of KNPS is to educate the public about plants and alleviate plant blindness. It is my hope that OKNP’s roadside habitat project will contribute to the visibility of native plants and spark interest in learning about and conserving our native flora.

One way that readers could help our efforts is to take a look at your local backroads. OKNP’s roadside survey project is limited to state maintained roads and generally excludes county and local roads. Please join our inaturalist project and help us document important habitat by adding your observations of roadside native plants to the project at https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/kentucky-roadside-native-plants.

References:

Abernathy, G., D. White, E. L. Laudermilk, and M. Evans, editors. 2010. Kentucky’s Natural Heritage: An Illustrated Guide to Biodiversity. University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, KY., USA.

Allen, W. 2003. Plant Blindness. BioScience. 53(10).

Forman, R. T. T., D. Sperling, J.A. Bissonette, A. P. Clevenger, C.D. Cutshall, V.H. Dale, L. Fahrig, R. France, C. R. Goldman, K. Heanue, J.A. Jones, F.J. Swanson, T. Turrentine, and T.C. Winter. 2003. Road Ecology: Science and Solutions. Washington, D.C.: Island Press.

Hopwood, J. 2008. The contribution of roadside grassland restorations to native bee conservation. Biological Conservation. 141.

Kentucky Department of Agriculture. 2019. Kentucky Pollinator Protection Plan. Available at: https://www.kyagr.com/statevet/documents/OSV_Bee_KY-Pollinator-Pro-Plan.pdf. Accessed: October 2021.

Ries, L., Debinski, D.M., and M.L. Wieland. 2001. Conservation value of roadside prairie restoration to butterfly communities. Conservation Biology. 15(2).

U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. 2016. Pollinators and Roadsides: Best Management Practices for Managers and Decision Makers. Available: https://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/env_topics/ecosystems/Pollinators_Roadsides/BMPs_pollinators_roadsides.pdf. Accessed: October 2021.

White House Office of Press Secretary. 2014. “2014 Pollinator Presidential Memo.” Available: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/pollinators/presidential-memo.htm. Accessed: October 2021.

Mountain Lover (Paxistima canbyi) in Kentucky: Ancient flora, limestone outcrops, and Conservation Efforts

By: Tara Littlefield, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves Botanist/Kentucky Plant Conservation Manager

Mountain lover (*Paxistima canby*i) in Carter County, Kentucky (Photo by T. Littlefield)

Mountain Lover (Paxistima canbyi) is a globally rare (G2), small evergreen shrub in the bittersweet family (Celastraceae). This shrub is occurs in Kentucky (S2), Maryland (S1), Ohio (S1), Pennsylvania (S2), Tennessee (S1), Virginia (S2), and West Virginia (S2), and is listed as state threatened or endangered throughout its range. This interesting shrub grows clonally and can form dense patches with stems reaching 6-12 inches. Fruit development and seed production are reportedly quite rare in the wild and there may be fewer than sixty genetically distinct plants throughout its entire range due to its clonal nature, further compounding its rarity.

One interesting note about the mountain lover is that it is thought to be an ancient glacial relict species, a remnant from a long lost ecosystem that occurred in this region prior to the last glaciation some 20,000 years ago. The late Dr. E. Lucy Braun, the esteemed plant ecologist from Cincinnati, had an interest in this plant and speculated that the mountain lover was an ancient glacial relict species that occurred along a pre glacial river system called the Teays River. I wonder how long these remnant populations have been clinging to the limestone cliffs and how old the root systems are of these clonal shrubs, perhaps thousands, even tens of thousands of years old?

Mountain lover has very small green/marron flowers with four sepals
and four petals arising from upper leaf axils. While I occasionally see it flower, i have never found any fruits (photo by: T. Littlefield)

I have long been fascinated by this plant and the limestone cliff and outcrop habitats where it grows. In Kentucky, It occurs in several sub regions of the interior low and Appalachian plateaus, including the inner bluegrass, the knobs, and the cliff section/intersection of the eastern highland rim and Cumberland Plateau. It is associated with limestone rocky ledges and cliffs, with an overstory/midstory of Chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergia), Blue Ash (Fraxinus quadrandulata), Eastern Red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), and eastern hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana). The herbaceous/shrub layer includes shrubby st. johns wort (Hypericum prolificum), fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica), smooth rockcress (Boechera laevigata), limestone cliff sedge (Carex eburnia), purple cliff break fern (Pellaea atropurpurea), and wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). The limestone cliffs and outcrops typically occur in deep ravine gorges that form unique microclimates that also provide habitat for other glacial relict disjunct rare species such as Canada yew (Taxus canadensis), walter’s violet (Viola walteri), northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), glade phlox (Phlox bifida var. stellaria), purple oat grass (Schizachne purpurscens) and snow trillium (Trillium nivale). The overall community assemblages of the mountain lover sites are unique between the various regions, and we are currently working with NatureServe to classify these plant communities to determine global rarity and classifications.

Walters violet (*Viola walteri*, S1) grows with mountain lover in Carter county, KY, Photo: T. Littlefield

Another common name of this plant is the “rat stripper” due to its relationship with eastern wood rats (Neotoma magister) that co-occur in the limestone outcrop habitats. These animals have been known to sever the woody stems to utilize in nests building along the cliffs. I have personally observed this phenomena at one of our Kentucky sites in Estill County, where I came upon a population with hundreds of freshly severed stems, wood rat tracks and nesting signs. I collected a few of the fresh cut stems and rooted them in potting mix after that trip. Could wood rats also play a role in expanding mountain lover populations along the cliff lines by inadvertently planting some as they drop stems along the cliff lines?

Major threats to the mountain lover include invasive plants such as bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), Euonymus scale (Unaspis euonymi, a small non-native aphid-like bug), timber removal, deer browsing and climate change. The majority of populations occur on private lands so development of the cliff tops has impacted a few populations and could be a threat to several more. Perhaps the greatest threat in Kentucky appears to be from the Euonymus scale, with over 50% of our populations experiencing declines due to this nonnative bug. Euonymus scale not only effects populations of mountain lover, but most species in the bittersweet family are affected as well, such as the eastern wahoo (Euonymus americana) and American bittersweet (Celastris americana). Due to the steep, cliff habitat where mountain lover occurs, there could be undiscovered populations that are inaccessible to humans. Additional surveys for new populations could further our understanding of the species and help evaluate its conservation status.

Euonymus scale infestation on Mountain Lover population in Madison County, Kentucky. Photo by T. Littlefield. For more info on Euonymus scale visit https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef428

We know that mountain lover is globally rare, has numerous threats, and occurs primarily on private land. So how can we work together to preserve this unique species? Conservation measures include networking with landowners that harbor mountain lover populations, targeting land acquisition projects to include these priority private sites, manage populations for the euonymus scale, and increase ex situ conservation efforts with horticulturalists. In June of 2021, recent efforts by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, Kentucky Plant Conservation Alliance, and the Atlanta Botanical Garden along with partners at the Daniel Boone National Forest, Berea College forest and several private landowners focused on visiting populations in all of the sub regions in Kentucky and collecting living samples to propagate for ex situ conservation and future introductions. Site evaluations, natural community assessments and rare plant updates were also conducted as a part of this collection trip. Having additional sites on public lands would allow researchers and biologists more opportunities for monitoring and managing these populations into the future. Conservation horticulturalist John Evans at the Atlanta Botanical Garden is now currently growing plants from 5 populations in Kentucky for future introductions within OKNP natural areas in the inner Bluegrass, Daniel Boone national Forest lands in the Cumberland Plateau, and Berea college forest sites in the knobs region.

Calab Evans, Atlanta Botanical Garden Horticultural technician, roots cuttings of Mountain lover from recent collection trips

If you would like to know more about these efforts or other Kentucky Plant Conservation Alliance efforts to conserve the rare plants and communities in Kentucky, please contact tara.littlefield@ky.gov.

Delisting of Running Buffalo Clover

By: Heidi Braunreiter, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves Plant Ecologist

OKNP botanist conducting running buffalo clover survey in 2019 along Boone Creek in Clark County. Photo by Heidi Braunreiter.

Running Buffalo Clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) is a perennial clover with showy white flowers and leaves divided into three leaflets, and was historically native to several eastern and midwestern U.S. states. Based on numerous references to clovers in historical literature, it is believed to have been abundant across its historical range in pre-settlement times, which included the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky (Campbell et al. 1988). However by 1900, its extent had drastically reduced, and only five populations in total remained (Brooks, 1983). Throughout the 20th century, there were numerous fruitless attempts to relocate populations, which lead scientists to believe the species was extirpated from states where it was historically common. Finally, in 1983 populations were relocated in West Virginia and Indiana, as well as in northern Kentucky in 1987 (Campbell et al. 1988). With so few populations known, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) opted to list the species in 1987 as ‘federally endangered,’ because it was at a high risk of extinction (USWFS 2007).

The decline of running buffalo clover is believed to have been caused by a combination of factors: as land was settled, habitat destruction ensued and competition from non-native invasive species became a problem (Campbell et al. 1988). Another factor was the loss of the American Bison on the landscape. Historical observations noted the clover’s preference for sites where American Bison congregated (Bartgis 1985). Bison likely provided a means of fertilizer, seed scarification, seed dispersal, and the periodic disturbance regime necessary for the running buffalo clover’s life cycle (Campbell et al. 1988). The loss of bison from the landscape would have dramatically affected the species’ propagation.

Running buffalo clover in a cemetery in Boone County, Kentucky. Photo by Heidi Braunreiter.

Today, you will find running buffalo clover in areas that have periodical disturbances mimicking bison; for example, along trails where plants get trampled, in old estate lawns or cemeteries that are regularly mowed, and on stream terraces with occasional flooding events. Running buffalo clover also prefers dappled sunlight in a forested setting. If the forest canopy becomes either too closed or too open, running buffalo clover populations tend to decline in number as it does not tolerate full shade or full sun (USFWS 2021).

Over the past two decades, the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves (OKNP) has conducted monitoring on running buffalo clover populations in Kentucky in order to look at population trends and manage for non-native invasive plants. Over this time, many new county records were discovered through targeted searches of historical estates, cemeteries, and stream restoration efforts in the Bluegrass Region. Several successful propagation and introductions efforts have also occurred over the years, for example, new populations were introduced and are now self-sufficient at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill in Mercer County and Taylor Fork Ecological Area in Madison County.

In 2019, running buffalo clover was proposed for delisting by the USFWS, as many populations had been discovered since its initial listing over 30 years prior. In response to the 2019 proposed delisting, OKNP conducted a state-wide assessment of our running buffalo clover populations. Despite set-backs from the pandemic, we were able to survey 61 populations, which covered the majority of the known extant populations in Kentucky. Sites not included in the assessment were already determined to be extirpated, or inaccessible. Most populations in Kentucky occur on private lands, and although obtaining access to private lands can be difficult, we have been grateful for the curiosity, interest, and enthusiastic response from many property owners. Overall, population trends in Kentucky show approximately half of the populations as stable or increasing in size while the other half of populations are declining in size or extirpated (Table 1). Figure 1 shows an updated range map of extant running buffalo clover populations in Kentucky.

Table 1. Population trends of running buffalo clover in Kentucky during the 2019-2020 statewide survey.

Population Trends	Number of Populations
Relatively stable	11
Increased in size	18
Decreased in size	21
Extirpated**	9
Not applicable*	2
Total	61

**Majority previously believed extirpated; extirpation confirmed

* Previously uncounted; unable to compare trend

A huge success that came out of the 2019-2020 statewide survey was the discovery of the largest running buffalo clover population in Kentucky. On the Mt. Folly Farm in Clark County, a population of over 6,000 plants was counted along the Upper Howards Creek. Other large populations of running buffalo clover in the state top out around 1,000 to 2,000 plants. The significance of this population led to the creation of a new Registered Natural Area with OKNP at Mt. Folly Farm. The clover occurs in the floodplain of the creek in cattle pastures and riparian woods. This site holds potential for future research as it has running buffalo clover in areas with and without a cattle-grazing regime.

As of September 2021, running buffalo clover was delisted by USFWS as they believe there are a sufficient number of populations occurring on publicly owned and managed lands to sustain the species’ viability (USWFS 2021). As of 2020, 175 extant populations occur across its range in Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and biologists in these states discover new populations every year. Within Kentucky, many populations occur on Wildlife Management Areas where stream restoration projects are ongoing. The key to the future success of this plant is the continued management of populations to keep invasive plants at bay and the continued implementation of appropriate disturbance regimes, be that mowing, grazing, or trampling.

If you are interested in adopting a running buffalo clover population in Kentucky to do yearly checkups to remove invasive species, please contact me! heidi.braunreiter@ky.gov.

Figure 1. Extant range of running buffalo clover in Kentucky as of February 2021.

Bibliography

Bartgis, R. 1985. Rediscovery of Trifolium stoloniferum Muhl. ex A. Eaton. Rhodora 87:425–429.

Brooks, R. 1983. Trifolium stoloniferum, Running buffalo clover: Description, distribution, and current status. Rhodora 85:343–354.

Campbell, J.J.N., M. Evans, M.E. Medley, and N.L. Taylor. 1988. Buffalo clovers in Kentucky (Trifolium stoloniferum and Trifolium reflexum) – Historical records, presettlement environment, rediscovery, endangered status, cultivation and chromosome number. Rhodora 90:399–418.

USFWS. 2007. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Running Buffalo Clover (Trifolium stoloniferum) Recovery Plan: First Revision. Department of the Interior, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region (Region 3), Fort Snelling, MN.

USFWS. 2021. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Running Buffalo Clover Final Listing Determination Fact Sheet. https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/plants/rbcl/runningb.html. Accessed 2 September 2021.

Reflection on Land Conservation: Protection in Perpetuity

By Jody Thompson, Woods & Waters Land Trust

Care for the land transcends social, political and educational differences.

Throughout my career as a conservation professional, I have worked with many landowners—too many to keep up with, really—over the years. I take pride in that and consider myself fortunate to have worked with so many people who appreciate help expressing care for their land.

Through this, I learned many approach conservation differently. Many landowners want to play an active role in making habitat improvements. Others believe in a more preservationist approach of giving the land rest from human hands. Both approaches have their place, and even though they are different, they are rooted in the same goal of land conservation. Care for the land transcends social, political and educational differences.

Joining the work of Woods & Waters Land Trust now exposes me more to landowners with truly long-term conservation goals—protection in perpetuity.

^{Property of Keith Caye, Henry County, KY, conserved in perpetuity with a conservation easement.}
^{Photo by Ed Lawrence.}

To do this reliably—to ensure perpetuity of the forests and other lands that support our waters, wildlife and conservation lifestyles—private land protection must include legal protection, such as with a conservation easement. Whereas we want to believe our natural lands will always remain natural, it’s hard to ensure this. Land is sold every day for various reasons, and future owners, including our children, may not share our same land values.

Thankfully, a permanent conservation easement remains with the land and sets forth the allowed uses of the land. An easement held by Woods & Waters Land Trust, for example, is likely to state that forested areas must always remain forested and that future development, e.g., homes and other buildings, must be restricted to certain areas and well-defined.

Those who have completed the conservation easement process for their land have described a sense of relief and, in some cases, greater closeness than before. Connie May, a co-owner of a Woods & Waters Land Trust conservation easement property in Owen County, Kentucky, said she had an even greater connection to her land after permanent protection was in place.

Betty Beshoar described a duty to the world that she and Mark Roberts accomplished with their easement on the banks of Elkhorn Creek in Franklin County. And Don and Sylvia Coffey told us how their 43-acre easement in Shelby County laid the groundwork for how their land should influence future generations.

These landowners have accomplished something for the forests and wildlife. They’ve provided something for their children that keeps giving and ensured that an aspect of their well-being is protected for the long term.

Reasons for considering a conservation easement vary, and appropriately so. It can be protection for the land itself and the wildlife that call it home. It may be to ensure the land exists so others can learn from it and experience it. For others, protected lands are essential to mitigate the effects of nearby development and habitat loss.

Creating this kind of protection is a big decision. A survey, appraisal (if tax benefits are desired) and assessments can take time. Even with the firm belief that protecting rare plants, forests or family legacy is important, the process requires patience and a trusting partnership with the organization holding the easement. It’s common for misconceptions, like needing large acreage, having rare species present and the belief that they’re sharing ownership, to arise.

The first step to entering into a conservation easement is simply a desire to see natural lands remain natural. The second is the willingness to work with an organization dedicated to helping conserve the lands that are integral to our lives. Organizations like Woods & Waters Land Trust exist to help landowners through this process.

Land is more than an object to be analyzed and shaped. It’s personal, emotional, a home. The spring wildflowers, the trees, the rabbits, deer and songbirds are members of an inner community that together make up the land.

Protecting these places satisfies a visceral need that we have as part of the natural system. Because even with all the rapid, intense disturbance that occurs when humans expand, explore and live life, we are from the natural world. Conserving these natural places is essential to who we are and where we, as people, come from.

I’ve learned from getting to know landowners and listening to their stories that they understand they are part of something bigger than themselves. They’re playing the long game. And that’s a game I’m glad to have grown into.

It’s a beautiful experience to stand alone on a snow-covered streambank. It’s exciting to plan a new habitat improvement and know you’re shaping a better future for a natural space. It’s inspiring to walk in a wood that’s been cared for. But there’s a greater sense of peace on a land that is protected forever.

Article adapted from “Reflection on Land Conservation,” published at WoodsAndWatersTrust.org.

Jody Thompson is the Executive Director of Woods and Waters Land Trust, a non-profit organization that protects forests and streams in the lower Kentucky River watershed through conservation easements, education and encouraging sustainable land stewardship.

Conserving the Monarch Butterfly in Kentucky

By Michaela Rogers, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources

The iconic monarch butterfly, well known for its striking orange-enveloped wings contrasted by black venation, has become an insect of high intrigue across North America. The marathon-length migration the butterfly makes to Mexico to overwinter in the alpine oyamel fir forests inspires wonder and fascination. The biological mechanisms and evolutionary relevance of this journey have become the subject of scientific research, while first sighting of the adults, eggs and caterpillars each year draws excitement from community scientists who participate in observation recording.

Recently, the monarch butterfly has garnered even greater attention. News broke on December 15, 2020 that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) had come to a decision on the federal listing status of the monarch butterfly. The Service had been petitioned in 2014 to list the monarch as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Following comprehensive review of the current and future population status of the monarch butterfly, USFWS announced that listing the monarch as threatened or endangered is warranted, but precluded while higher priority listing actions are addressed.

This action results in the monarch becoming a candidate species under the Endangered Species Act. As a candidate species, the status of the monarch butterfly will now be reviewed yearly by USFWS scientists until a listing decision can be made. The monarch will likely stay in the national spotlight for years to come, during which time data collection will continue to assess the population and habitat created or improved for the butterfly.

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources views the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision as an indication of the vulnerable status of the species and as affirmation in the need for continued conservation work for the monarch. Conservation of the species will require efforts throughout the monarch’s range. Here in the state, we are moving forward with work on monarch preservation. Kentucky not only supports the iconic migration of the monarch, but serves as breeding habitat within the butterfly’s range.

Kentucky embarked on creation of the Kentucky Monarch Conservation Plan in 2016 following a targeted national effort surrounding concerns of population-level decline. During this time, garden clubs, native plant groups, and other organizations were already making headway for monarchs in the state. Published in 2018, this plan guides current priorities for monarch conservation, and will continue to do so through potential future changes in the listing status of the butterfly. Kentucky is also a member state in the Mid-America Monarch Conservation Plan, allowing for collaboration with other states across the monarch’s midwestern range to increase habitat. Of primary concern is increasing the number of milkweed stems in the region, which provide the sole food source of monarch caterpillars.

Currently, stakeholders of the Monarch Plan are working to increase habitat, which includes both milkweed and native flowering plants (a source of nectar resources for adult butterflies) on the landscape. There are now 827 Monarch Waystations officially registered in Kentucky, and thousands of acres of habitat have been improved or added for the benefit of monarchs and other pollinators through the enhancement of private, public, and right-of-way land. A variety of educational events and outreach initiatives have been aimed at raising awareness for the monarch in the state, with several hundred monarchs tagged over the course of fall tagging events, over a thousand seed packets distributed, and presentations given in classrooms, during workshops, at club and professional meetings, and most recently, in virtual settings.

Conserving the monarch butterfly has been called an “all hands on deck” approach, with participation from the transportation and agricultural sectors, public agencies, non-government organizations, private businesses, and urban, suburban and rural environments all being important in support of such a widespread species.

Planting milkweed is one of the most important things you can do to help the monarch. If you don’t have a garden, you can aid instead by participating in community science initiatives that track monarchs along their migration route (visit monarchjointventure.org and journeynorth.org to learn about opportunities). Follow us on Facebook at “Kentucky Monarchs” as we share information and links related to monarch butterflies in Kentucky, and remember that no effort is too small to help conserve monarchs!

Michaela Rogers is an Environmental Scientist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. She serves as the Monarch and Pollinator Coordinator for the agency and manages implementation of the Kentucky Monarch Conservation Plan.

Invasive Plant Corner – Japanese Stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum)

By Nick Koenig

Japanese Stiltgrass (Microstegium vimineum), often called Stiltgrass or most commonly Microstegium, is a shade tolerant grass in the Poaceae/Grass plant family. This is the second most biodiverse plant family in Kentucky right behind Asteraceae/Sunflower family. Given the massive number of species in the family and the distinctness between members in the family, recognizing Microstegium can be tricky but I hope to help so that native plant lovers can start to remove this species from their landscape!

Description

It is likely if you have hiked along a creek in a disturbed area or walked along a road, you have probably come across Japanese Stiltgrass and thought nothing of it. However, this should be of great concern to landowners/land managers/native plant enthusiast. Once you can competently identify the next patch of Microstegium you come across, you can help eradicate it from the area.

DISTINCT FEATURES

By far, the most distinctive feature for Microstegium that I use in field identification is the faint silver line running down the middle vein of the leaf. This characteristic is not as prominent and distinctive among any other native grasses in Kentucky.

Silver line on leaf of *Microstegium* (picture taken by Nick Koenig).

APPEARANCE

Japanese Stiltgrass is a “weak-stemmed annual, branching, decumbent [running along the ground then rising up], rooting at the lower nodes [points where leaves or stems come out].” (Weakley 2015).

Picture of a few *Microstegium* shoots prior to flowering and seeding (picture provided by Jeff Nelson).

LEAVES

As described in the Flora of the Southeast (Weakley), the leaves are ovate-lanceolate (meaning oval and much longer than wide, roughly 2.5-7 times longer than wide ), 2-10 cm long tapering at the base.

HABITAT

Microstegium can most likely be found in “disturbed areas, colonizing moist, rich soil, especially in floodplains” such as along a creek bank where it is often found (Weakley 2015). Due to the Japanese Stiltgrass’s ability of being shade-tolerant, the species can make deep incursions in a forested area.

Example of *Microstegium vimineum* (Japanese Stiltgrass) growing alongside the beautiful native, *Impatiens capensis* (Spotted Touch-Me-Not, Orange Jewelweed; picture provided by Jeff Nelson).

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