Restoration ofHydrastis canadensisby Transplanting with Disturbance Simulation: Results of One Growing Season

Abstract

Having evolved in an environment with large, severe, and frequent disturbances, including massive floods, fires, and impacts of extinct and extirpated fauna, woodland herbs may be adapted to such disturbance processes. Present lack of such disturbances may contribute to present rarity. We test the hypothesis that transplanting with disturbance simulation can be used to restore the threatened woodland herb, Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal). Three disturbance‐simulation treatments (soil turnover, fertilization, and both) and a control were randomly applied to 100 blocks in goldenseal habitat, and a single rhizome was transplanted into each treatment. Transplanting was effective with 85% of the transplants surviving, 41% flowering, and 34% fruiting; thus, transplanting may increase area of occupancy. Soil turnover alone and combined with fertilization caused a significant increase in plant size available to support production of fruit. Increased flower and significantly increased fruit production were also characteristic of soil‐turned plots. Results support the hypothesis that some woodland herbs are rare due to lack of certain disturbance, call for consideration of soil disturbance as a potentially important and beneficial influence on woodland herbs regardless of light effects, and suggest that transplanting into soil‐overturned plots may restore goldenseal. The assumption that undisturbed conditions are optimal may impede effective management of rare woodland flora, highlighting the need for a more flexible approach.

Restoration ofHydrastis canadensis: Experimental Test of a Disturbance Hypothesis After Two Growing Seasons

“…Beneficial results of disturbance simulation after 2 years provide an explanation for the association of H. canadensis with disturbed areas of the woods (Sinclair & Catling 2000b). They also lend additional support for the concepts that H. canadensis is adapted to certain kinds of natural disturbance, currently absent or less frequent on the landscape, and is surviving without increase for long periods of time between short periods of population expansion that follow disturbance events accompanied by soil turnover and nutrient input (Sinclair & Catling 2002, 2003).…”

“…It demonstrated increased colonization of Erythronium americanum (through newly dispersed seeds, buried seeds, and vegetative growth) after removal of all co‐occurring vegetation and soil disturbance. More recently, we demonstrated that transplanting with disturbance simulation can be used effectively in restoration of Hydrastis canadensis , in terms of increased growth based on results after 1 year (Sinclair & Catling 2003). This supported the concepts that some woodland herbs are rare due to lack of certain natural disturbance processes and that disturbance other than canopy disturbance is important in persistence of woodland plant populations (Catling 2001).…”

“…We demonstrated that (1) transplanting could be effective in restoration of Hydrastis canadensis and (2) disturbance simulation involving soil turnover alone, and combined with fertilization, caused a significant increase in plant photosynthetic surface area available to support production of fruit (Sinclair & Catling 2003). These results supported the circumstantial evidence that disturbance is beneficial to establishment and growth of H. canadensis populations (Sinclair & Catling 2000 b ) as well as the following concepts: (1) H. canadensis is adapted to certain kinds of natural disturbances, once more prevalent in the woodland landscape; (2) soil disturbance may have a beneficial effect on some woodland herbs regardless of canopy gaps and associated light effects; and (3) the plant has a “remnant” type of strategy (Eriksson 1996) characterized by long‐term survival between periods of population expansion (Sinclair & Catling 2002, 2003).…”

Is transplanting an effective means of preserving vegetation?

“…One recent example of transplantation into natural forest involved the threatened herb, Hydrastis canadensis L. (goldenthread); it survived one growing season but the subsequent performance is unknown (Sinclair and Catling 2003). Populations of the endangered species, Conradina glabra Shinners (Apalachicola rosemary) were re-introduced as cut-tings into a nature reserve within its original geographic range (Gordon 1996), and although its survival rate was also high 1 or 2 years after transplantation, long-term results of these transplants are also lacking.…”

Restoration demography: a 10‐year demographic comparison between introduced and natural populations of endemic Centaurea corymbosa (Asteraceae)

“…Generally, population restoration experiments require intensive management interventions such as the ex‐situ growth of restoration propagules (DeMauro 1994; Cully 1996; Maschinski & Duquesnel 2006; Bottin et al . 2007), soil preparation (Sinclair & Catling 2003; Maschinski, Baggs & Sacchi 2004), grass cover reduction (Pavlik, Nickrent & Howald 1993), caging protection (Maschinski, Baggs & Sacchi 2004), or supplemental watering (DeMauro 1994). Compared to these studies, creating new populations of C. corymbosa was straightforward.…”