RRWC

Rare Plant Found at The Nature Conservancy’s Ives Road Fen Preserve

TECUMSEH, Mich. — The rediscovery of heartleaf skullcap in Michigan, at The Nature Conservancy’s Ives Road Fen Preserve, demonstrates the necessity for continued land protection and habitat preservation.
           
The flowering plant evaded Michigan botanists for almost 90 years, until Bob Smith located the species during a routine preserve survey. Coincidentally, Smith originally introduced staff from The Nature Conservancy to the area in 1979.
           
“This sighting reaffirms the vital role that habitat restoration and preservation plays in Michigan,” said Dr. Patrick Doran, director of science for The Nature Conservancy in Michigan. “It’s thrilling to know that the hard work of our volunteers and land stewards is making a difference.”
           
The plant resides in many southern and eastern states, but was only spotted in Michigan once before, in 1918. Scientists say that the skullcap’s rediscovery points to the importance of increasing protected land in Michigan.
           
“The Nature Conservancy’s land and other natural areas provide a permanent home for species such as the heartleaf skullcap, as well as places for plant populations to stabilize as they spread further north,” said Dr. Doug Pearsall, senior conservation scientist at The Nature Conservancy in Michigan. “Climate warming has allowed southern plants to expand their ranges further north into places like Michigan, and maintaining suitable habitats is fundamental to maintaining the diversity of plant species.”


Ives Road Fen Preserve features many distinct characteristics, including:
 
- A prairie fen habitat, with water fed by underground springs that are rich in calcium and magnesium bicarbonates;
- Fragile habitat sprawled over 700 acres protected at the preserve since the Conservancy first began acquiring land in the area in 1987;
- Home to frogs (gray tree frog, Blanchard’s cricket frog), birds (yellow-breasted chat, blue-winged warbler, alder flycatcher), grasses (prairie dropseed grass, beak grass), and river wildlife (hickorynut mussel);
- Three local communities draw water from the River Raisin downstream from the Ives Road Fen Preserve; and
- Many conservation activities take place here, such as removing 2.5 million adult buckthorn stems (an invasive species) and conducting 31 prescribed burns, which helps native plant regeneration and control of invasive species.
 
 “While we originally thought of Ives Road Fen as a unique habitat because of the river and prairie fens, we know now that the floodplain forests and uplands also contribute to making this a special place where a variety of species can flourish,” Doran said. “We’re still learning and studying how preservation efforts provide a number of benefits within an ecosystem.”

The Nature Conservancy is the leading conservation organization working to protect the most ecologically important lands and waters around the world for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its 1 million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 102 million acres worldwide, including 360,000 acres in Michigan. For more information, visit http://nature.org/michigan.