Dr. Titus and graduate student Laura Blood in the Jewett Hall Greenhouse. Behind them is proof that a rare and endangered plant is hardy enough to survive catastrophic drought.
Little is know about Huachuca water umbel (Lilaeopsis schaffneriana ssp. recurva) in the carrot family, an endangered perennial native to southeastern Arizona.
Professor Jonathan Titus (biology) and his wife Priscilla are working on changing this. The plant is important as an indicator of trouble in a wetlands area. The species became endangered due to the drying up of wetlands —most likely caused by excessive water use, cattle grazing and a multi-year drought.
Dr. Titus and his wife monitor most of the known population of Huachuca water umbel. Out of six monitored populations, two are no longer in evidence at all above ground. However, the Tituses have introduced the species into a wetland at the Appleton-Whittel Audubon Research Ranch in Arizona and this has been a steady success. At present, two years after the initial planting, more than 50 percent of their introduced plants are flourishing. Last spring, a group of 10 Fredonia students traveled to the ranch to measure their growth as part of the summer Desert Biology class.
By studying and observing, the Tituses have found that reducing the competition for the same resources between Huachuca water umbel and more aggressive species (such as cattail) will actually stimulate growth in the endangered species. “The water umbel has been found to respond well to disturbances such as low intensity seasonal flooding and scouring or fire, which reduce competing species from the site,” Dr. Titus said.
In Fredonia’s Jewett Hall Greenhouse, currently under renovation by the biology department, Dr. Titus and his students are propagating new water umbel plant material, and doing seedbank studies on soils from water umbel sites. “Fredonia’s population of the endangered species may be the second largest one known to exist,” Dr. Titus noted. The work is showing that water umbel seeds collected as long as two years after a drought are still able to survive. “The presence of these seeds in the seedbank soils in our greenhouse shows the ability of the species to survive through catastrophic disturbance and prolonged dryness,” Dr. Titus said.
Professor Titus continues to work on the preservation of this endangered species and will enlist the assistance of his Desert Biology students in semesters to come. Funded by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Grant, the Tituses will no doubt make an impact to the globe’s botanical diversity by saving the Huachuca water umbel, an important indicator of wetland conditions.
