Research Report
NEPCoP's ambitious agenda for 1998 included surveys and seed collection of over 250 species throughout New England. The six state task forces fielded 120 volunteers to survey 648 plant populations. The following reports focus on some plants of special interest.
 
Potentilla robbinsiana – Robbins' cinquefoil 
This year we continued our propagation and augmentation of the site on Mt. Washington, but with a new wrinkle. In the past we have grown plants from seed for two years here at the Garden in the Woods, held the plants in a freezer over winter, and transplanted them in late May or early June after snow melt when we could finally reach this alpine species’ desolate location. This year, the May transplanting took place in 60 mph winds and volunteers from the U.S. Forest Service, Appalachian Mountain Club, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were blown off their feet. Although many plants have survived transplantation by this method in the past, for unknown reasons it appears that only a few survived this year. We decided, therefore, to try additional transplants in late July. We had avoided transplanting late in the season for fear that the plants would not be able to settle into their new homes before the onset of freezing temperatures and snow, which can occur as early as September in the alpine zone. By late August, however, all but one of the July transplants were looking very strong. The real test for these plants will be surviving the winter, but we are hopeful that July transplanting will prove to be successful (and easier on the volunteers).
 
Canopy manipulation of Isotria medeoloides  – small whorled pogonia 
Almost since its discovery, this globally rare species has confounded botanists with its erratic comings and goings.  Able to remain dormant for five years, populations of this terrestrial orchid have declined at some sites in the New England region where it is most abundant. Researchers believe that the species is being shaded out as forests  mature and that an increase in light through openings in the canopy will improve both numbers and reproduction of the plants. In the course of our research, NEWFS volunteer Carol Fyler and I noticed that the plants responded greatly to increased light from nearby power line cuts. This winter, under a U.S Fish and Wildlife Service contract and with the aid of a forester, we removed 25% of the trees from a portion of a New Hampshire site where plants of the small whorled pogonia have been studied for more than 10 years.  Part of the population was left untouched as a control. Photographs were taken with a special fish-eye lens before and after the cutting in the both the control and experimental sections. Using a computer to analyze the photos, we will be able to determine exactly how much canopy was removed. No real change in the Isotria plants was expected this first year, but we hope that we will see an increase in plant size, numbers, and reproduction in the next five years. If the canopy management works as expected, it will be the first step towards developing management protocols for this elusive species.
 

Jesup’s milk vetch augmentation on Connecticut River a washout 
If you live on the banks of the Connecticut River, you expect to be flooded in the spring. What you probably don’t expect is record floodwaters in the middle of June. But that’s what happened this year shortly after we sowed seeds of Astragalus robbinsii var. jesupii at one of its three locations along the river. Found only on the Connecticut River, the numbers of individuals of this pea family member have dropped in recent years, prompting great concern in the conservation community. No doubt the species has experienced this sort of disturbance in the past; the river is both its benefactor — flooding away the competition on the rocky ledges where it grows — and its nemesis — washing plants and seed away. 
Because the locations of this rare endemic, a federally listed endangered species, are so vulnerable, seed had been collected in 1997 as a backup and for research. The goal of the research is to learn how to augment existing populations using seed collected at each site, with the possibility of introducing the plant to other locations. The general idea is that a flood could peel the milk vetch off one location, but if it exists at more sites the species has a better chance to persist. We sowed seeds at one site in May, and transplanted six plants grown at Garden in the Woods at another location. At least 20 seeds germinated out of 120 sown, before the swollen river washed most of the seed plots and transplants away, leaving one germinated seedling and two plants. On the bright side, we were able to germinate 40 out of 46 seeds as a comparison at Garden in the Woods, and these will be available as future transplants.
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