Transplanting PMV - Why
it Won't Work
- BLM EC Field Office
Peirson’s
milk-vetch, Astragalus magdalenae var. peirsonii,
is one of several species of rare, endemic (meaning restricted to)
plants that inhabit the Imperial Sand Dunes.
Its range in the United States is confined wholly to this
sand dune system where it occurs in scattered colonies on windblown
hollows and slopes. Many
members of the genus Astragalus are substrate specific, meaning
that they are restricted in their range by hydrologic (water) and/or
soil conditions. Peirson’s
milk-vetch is perfectly adapted to life in an active dune system
and is said to be a psammophytic, or sand-adapted, species and is
listed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servive as threatened.
About
20% of this plants habitat is protected from the impacts of off-highway
vehicles in the North Algodones Wilderness, north of State Highway
78. The remainder of
its relatively undisturbed habitat occurs south of Roadrunner Campground
in the central portion of the open area.
Many
people have suggested transplanting the plants from the open area
to the wilderness area where they will be protected from off-highway
vehicle use. There
are several reasons why this would not benefit this species.
Desert plants in general are widely spaced in their habitat.
This is due to the intense competition between plants for
water. Removal of plants
from one area and transplanting into another would cause an unnatural
spacing of plants and would ultimately end in the death of plants
from competition for water.
Another
reason would be that the range of the species would be substantially
decreased. The wider
the range of a species the greater is its chance for survival.
This is because if a species is located in only one locale
the chances for adverse environmental or other factors to affect
the entire population is increased due to this limited range.
Rainfall, for example, in the wilderness area versus the
central portion of the dunes can vary enough during any given year
that plants can flourish in one area and not the other.
Finally,
desert plants do not transplant well due to their extensive root
systems. Even if it
were possible to transplant plants they would require watering and
monitoring which would be difficult, if not impossible, to do in
the wilderness area.
Please
remember that any attempt to transplant or remove this plant from
its habitat, no matter how well intentioned, would result in a “take”
of a federally listed species.
The term “take” means to harm or kill a listed species and
is a crime punishable by fine, imprisonment or both.
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