Supplementation of the autumn buttercup population in Utah, USA, using in vitro propagated plants

Summary

Ranunculus aestivalis (autumn buttercup) survives at only one confirmed site, The Nature Conservancy's Sevier River Valley Preserve in southwestern Utah, where numbers fell from around 500 to 22 before federal listing in 1989. A partnership of the Cincinnati Zoo's Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW), The Arboretum at Flagstaff, Utah Valley State College, The Nature Conservancy, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service used tissue culture to multiply plants for supplementation. CREW germinated 60 seeds and established sterile shoot cultures representing dozens of genetic lines, shipping plantlets to Flagstaff for acclimation. From October 2006 to May 2007, Flagstaff acclimated 241 plantlets, and in June 2007, 136 plants representing 35 genetic lines were transported roughly four hours to the Preserve and planted 1 metre apart at two microhabitats, with half the planting holes lined with paper to test root competition. Of 138 monitored plants, 128 survived their first summer, a 92.8 percent survivorship, with most in good or fair condition heading into 2008. The project increased in situ numbers roughly six-fold and additional plants were being prepared for outplanting in 2008, with five years of follow-up monitoring planned. The project rated itself Successful, citing strong interagency coordination and high initial survival, while noting more plants are still needed to reach the recovery goal of 1,000 individuals.