Research Projects:
IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN
Herbicide Use and Loss of Biodiversity in Georgia
Jennifer F. Ceska, Conservation Coordinator
Ceska, J.F. 2003. "It's Not Easy Being Green: Herbicide Use and Loss of Biodiversity in Georgia." Garden News, State Botanical Garden of Georgia 19(2): 5,11.
It is no wonder that plants are becoming extinct at a rate seven times greater than that of animals when you realize that plants can't walk away from trouble. Well, they do move on a much slower time scale than what we are accustomed to, but it is because of this slow time scale, and their limited ability to adapt to the rapid changes taking place around them which causes plants to lose the battle for survival.
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"There is no doubt diversity in powerline bogs is being lessened by the use of herbicides. Perhaps the best examples are dieback in clumps of pitcherplants at the last Coastal Plain pitcherplant bog with Purple Pitcherplant—not just the next year, but continuing into another year since spraying at least. The other outstanding example would be the case of Florida Willow in Georgia, since we only have two sites—the best under a powerline, the second browsed by deer continuously. Spraying kills woody plants back—the damage depends upon the strength of the spray and the times it is done. Continuous spraying forces plants to vegetatively reproduce by root sprouts and stump sprouts, kills back flowering branches, eliminates seed production." —Tom Patrick, Botanist, Georgia Natural Heritage Program |
Ecologists, horticulturists, and botanists from the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance place herbicide use among the top reasons for loss of biodiversity in Georgia along with habitat destruction (for forestry, development, agriculture), fire exclusion (lack of fire), non-native invasive species, chemical pollution (including herbicides), habitat fragmentation, and hydrology alteration. Ron Determann, Conservatory and Conservation Director at the Atlanta Botanical Garden and charter member of the GPCA, considers herbicide use to be the number one reason for loss of biodiversity in Georgia. Wherever it falls on the list, it is a serious and growing problem for biological diversity.
In July 1998, I participated in a plant rescue coordinated by the GPCA for Red Pitcherplants (Sarracenia rubra) growing in a roadside population near Metter, Georgia. The population was well known among plant enthusiasts, thriving with the annual management of lawn mowers. Then herbicides where introduced and the formerly robust population was being sprayed by both roadway and power company personnel. The companies were not coordinating their efforts, so the roadside received multiple applications of herbicide. GPCA rescued a sampling of the population, moving plants to another site nearby on protected land owned by The Nature Conservancy. After much sleuthing, GPCA members tracked down the roadside managers and electric company personnel managing this site, and they agreed to halt spraying. In subsequent years the site was routinely sprayed because the people sitting on the machines had not been told of this rare plant population and their company's agreement to protect this site or the personnel changed.
In fall of 2000, herbicide use in Georgia took a devastating toll on some of the rarest plant populations known. Across the state, powerlines and roadsides were suddenly and intensely sprayed with herbicide. Populations like the last surviving Coastal Plain pitcherplant bog with Purple Pitcherplant (Sarracenia purpurea), a site listed as the most biologically rich habitat in Georgia, were sprayed by hand with back-pack sprayers. The pitcherplants were literally doused with herbicide even though these long-lived herbaceous plants had no potential of interfering with the powerlines towering above. The power companies had previously made agreements to protect these sites. Rare plant population locations had been meticulously recorded and mapped, with pole number registries and special management signs posted around the populations. But this information had not been communicated to the personnel flying, riding, or walking through endangered plant habitat applying herbicide. Experts agree these rare plant populations may never recover.
It is a paradox that very rare, singular habitats survive in these artificially maintained settings along roadsides and powerlines, yet the situation presents an opportunity for protecting these plants. Rather than struggling to identify hundreds of private landowners and requesting they protect these populations, arrangements for protecting rare plants can be made with a few right-of-way management companies. But as we learned in 2000, we can't rely on agreements made with the upper levels of management. The people on the ground working in that site, must be identified and re-acquainted annually with the rare plant populations, their identification and location.
In 2001, power companies turned over the management of more than thirty significant rare plant populations under powerline right-of-way lanes to the Georgia Natural Heritage Program. This is an important evolution in the recovery of these rare plant habitats, but the Heritage Program, while incredibly dedicated and skilled, has not the personnel to execute the management of all these sites, much less, keep a watchful eye for stray sprayers or other problems.
To assist in this endeavor, the State Botanical Garden began coordinating the Botanical Guardians project on behalf of the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance. Botanical Guardians are local volunteers, living near each of the rare plant powerline sites who are carefully selected and trained to serve as stewards watching over the populations. Their first task is to walk the site monthly even weekly during certain seasons and report any problems they see whether that be carving ATV ruts, dumping trash, digging rare plants, plowing food plots or other perhaps more subtle problems such as invasive species introduction. Local stewards also seek out local powerline management personnel, reminding them of the rare plant populations and their special management zone designation.
The State Botanical Garden recently launched a fundraising campaign to hire a project coordinator for the Botanical Guardians project. The project coordinator will help recruit, train, and manage the network of local powerline steward volunteers throughout the state as well as recruiting, training, and managing a team of volunteers who hunt for lost rare plant species populations across Georgia. For more information about the Botanical Guardians project, contact the Plant Conservation Program at the State Botanical Garden (706-542-6448). This project is one of the most effective ways to help endangered plant populations in Georgia, protecting them from dangers they cannot to which they cannot adapt.