摘要: |
U.S. military installations are refuges to many threatened and endangered ecosystems and species. They are also sites of intensive military training and testing. The U.S. Army is committed to conservation of biological diversity on its lands through the adoption of comprehensive threatened, endangered, and sensitive species (TES) management regulations and initiatives. These regulatory guidelines go beyond single species management by placing TES management in an ecosystem management perspective. This report discusses the ecology and biology of Balduina atropurpurea, a TES associated with Red-cockaded Woodpecker habitat at Fort Stewart. The objectives of the study were to provide baseline information on B. atropurpurea's: population locations and sizes; density, dispersion, and number of individuals; variation in vegetative condition; variation in reproductive condition; viability of seeds; vegetative and reproductive phenology; and habitat quality at Fort Stewart as of 1996. This baseline information is needed to begin the design of a demographic monitoring program, determine management needs, provide initial guidance on prioritization of populations for conservation and prioritization of management prescriptions for each population, and begin the assessment of the effects of RCW management and military training and testing on the persistence of B. atropurpurea at Fort Stewart. |