Training

See also: Yadon's Piperia, Habitat Restoration

Yadon's Piperia Recovery Workshop Summary On January 27, 2005 over 30 researchers, regulators, consultants, land managers, and others interested in the ecology and recovery of the orchid species Piperia yadonii met at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. This workshop served as a unique forum for a diverse group of people and agencies to come together and share information and experiences with one another. The goal of the workshop was to promote a better understanding of what potential approaches to the recovery and management of Yadon's Piperia might be most successful and what the appropriate questions policy makers could be addressing to facilitate this goal. The workshop featured four presenters: Eric Van Dyke, Alison Graff, Lisa Wallace, and Roy Buck, followed by a roundtable discussion. Eric Van Dyke from the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve began the morning with a presentation titled "Piperia yadonii: Distribution and Habitat Change". It focused on the historical distribution of the habitat types where Piperia yadonii occur and how their distribution has changed over the last 100 years. Eric compared historical aerial photos of the Monterey area with current photos of the same locations to demonstrate how the distribution of maritime chaparral, one of the habitat types where Yadon's Piperia is found, has changed. Alison Graff, who worked with the Fish and Wildlife Service on several studies involving Yadon's Piperia, followed with a presentation on the "Biology of Yadon's Piperia and Implications for Conservation". Her presentation began with a clear description of the lifecycle of Yadon's Piperia and how its variable nature can make monitoring and accurate population size modeling quite difficult. This was followed by a presentation of her results from an experiment focused on pollination ecology and the breeding system of this species. The two main questions addressed were: 1) Does Yadon's Piperia depend on a rare or specialized pollinator species? and 2) Is low pollinator service limiting reproductive output? These questions led into a discussion about the potential for inbreeding depression and what can be done to ameliorate its effects, if any, on Yadon's Piperia populations. The last part of her presentation looked at orchid seed ecology and the importance of a micorrhizal relationship for seed germination and how mitigation practices such as transplanting or propagation of new plants needs to account for this. After the break, where workshop participants were able to visit with each other to build connections and develop new contacts that will hopefully lead to a continued sharing of information and discussion of the issues related to the conservation of Yadon's Piperia, Lisa Wallace from the University of South Dakota gave a presentation titled "Potential Consequences of Small Size and Habitat Fragmentation on Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera leucophaea) Populations". Her presentation focused on the ecology of Platanthera, its population genetics, reproductive biology, and management trends. Some of the main discussion points were on the primary threats to this species (exotics, loss of habitat, and other biological threats such as pollinator limitation and inbreeding depression) and the amount of genetic variation within and among populations (Michigan, Ohio, Maine). Much of the work she presented used genetic markers (Allozyme and RAPD markers) to test for correlations between population size and genetic variation and to assess gene flow within and among populations. Roy Buck from Ecosystems West Consulting concluded with a presentation titled "An Introduction to the Identification of Piperia yadonii". He began with a brief description of the distinguishing features of orchids followed by a description of the differences between the genus Platanthera and Piperia. He then went into a detailed description of the distinguishing characteristics that help to identify the different Piperia species found in California, focusing on the differences between Piperia yadonii and the other species found on the central coast. After lunch there was a roundtable discussion where workshop participants could ask the presenters any follow-up questions and discuss specific topics from the presentations in more detail. The general theme of the discussion revolved around "What do we know now, how can we us it to improve current management of Yadon's Piperia, and what information would be most helpful in the future to guide our decisions relating to the conservation of this species". One of the main outcomes of the discussion was that there needs to be a better understanding of the environmental conditions that favor Piperia yadonii to better understand why it occurs where it does and what areas should receive a higher priority for conservation. In summary, participants left this workshop with a better understanding of the present and historic distribution of Yadon's Piperia, the importance of a long-term, more accurate approach to monitoring populations, the potential genetic consequences of small, isolated populations and how management has been adapted to try to deal with this in another endangered orchid species, and a clear idea of the distinguishing characteristics of Piperia yadonii. Workshop participants also left with a better idea of who is working on these issues on the central coast and where to go for information and potential collaboration on their own projects. This and past workshops have received very positive feedback and we encourage you to stay involved with learning about conservation on the central coast through the Coastal Training Program.