ABSTRACT

Understanding the ecology and life history of rare species is critical to assessing their conservation status and developing effective management strategies. We examined the habitat and demography of impoverished pinweed (Lechea intermedia var. depauperata), a rare, narrowly endemic post-fire coloniser native to the Athabasca Plain of Canada, using a combination of germination tests, plant community assessments, and microclimate monitoring. In addition, we monitored demographic trends over three years in five of six known extant populations to explore the temporal dynamics of impoverished pinweed populations. Areas supporting impoverished pinweed populations were found to be warmer than adjacent areas during the growing season; however, warmer temperatures did not correlate with higher seed germination. Plant community composition varied little between occupied and unoccupied areas. Demographic assessments suggest the taxon is likely a short-lived perennial, and populations appear to be self-sustaining in the short term. Based on work presented here and in a previous study, we suggest that impoverished pinweed has several characteristics of inherently vulnerable taxa, and we recommend that population trends be monitored over time. Further, we recommend directions for future work to address identified outstanding knowledge gaps.

摘要

了解稀有物种的生态和生活史对于评估其保护状况和制定有效的管理策略至关重要。我们研究贫困pinweed的栖息地和人口（Lechea中间变种depauperata），是发芽测试，植物群落评估和小气候监测的结合体，是原产于加拿大阿萨巴斯卡平原的稀有，狭窄地方性的火后定居者。此外，我们在六个已知现存种群中的五个中监测了三年内的人口趋势，以探索贫困杂草种群的时间动态。发现在生长季节中，支持贫困杂草种群的地区比邻国温暖。然而，较高的温度与较高的种子发芽无关。在有人居住区和非有人居住区之间，植物群落组成变化不大。人口统计学评估表明，该分类单元可能是短命的多年生植物，而且种群在短期内似乎可以自我维持。根据此处介绍的内容和先前的研究，我们建议贫困的杂草具有本来就很脆弱的分类单元的几个特征，并且我们建议随着时间的推移监测人口趋势。此外，我们建议未来工作的方向，以解决已发现的突出知识空白。