Few-flowered Club-rush Recovery Strategy Executive Summary

Executive summary – Recovery Strategy for Few-flowered Club-rush (Trichophorum planifolium) in Ontario

Prepared by T.W. Smith and C.J. Rothfel

The Recovery Strategy for Few-flowered Club-rush in Ontario was prepared prior to June 30, 2008 to meet the Ontario government’s commitments under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk in Canada. This recovery strategy is being adopted under the Endangered Species Act, 2007 (ESA 2007), which requires the Minister of Natural Resources to ensure recovery strategies are prepared for all species listed as endangered or threatened. With the additions summarized below, the Recovery Strategy for Few-flowered Club-rush/Bashful Bulrush (Trichophorum planifolium) in Canada meets all of the content requirements outlined in the ESA 2007.

The ESA 2007 requires that a recovery strategy include an identification of the habitat needs of the species. Section 13.1 of the recovery strategy provides a description of the habitat needs of the species. The information provided in this section is considered to partially meet the requirements of the ESA 2007. Since the original publication of the strategy, additional information has been incorporated which provides a more fulsome identification of the habitat needs of the species.

The identification of critical habitat is not a component of a recovery strategy prepared under the ESA 2007. However, it is recommended that the areas of critical habitat identified in this recovery strategy be considered when developing a habitat regulation under the ESA 2007. In addition, since the species lives in open areas within both oak forest and oak woodland habitats it is recommended that the entire area of oak forest and/or woodland surrounding the species be regulated. This will help to protect new habitat, adjacent to where the species is currently found, that is created through disturbance processes such as fire, ice and wind storms, insect outbreaks, and other natural forces.

Executive summary

The common name used throughout this strategy (Few-flowered Club-rush) is a synonym for Bashful Bulrush, which is the common name used in Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act. Few-flowered Club-rush/Bashful Bulrush (Trichophorum planifolium, formerly Scirpus verecundus) is limited to two locations in Canada: Cootes Paradise Nature Sanctuary in Hamilton, and Rouge Park in Toronto. The Cootes Paradise populations consist of around 1200 plants^{footnote 1[1]},and the Rouge Park population consisted of only 40 stems (one plant) in 2001, but it was not found in 2005. These populations are at the northern edge of this species' range; populations in the eastern United States are secure. This species was uplisted from "Special Concern" to "Endangered" by COSEWIC (Committee On the Status of Endangered Wildlife In Canada) in May 2000. It is also regulated as an Endangered species under the Ontario Endangered Species Act.

The recovery goal is to ensure the long-term survival of the extant Canadian populations, through the protection and enhancement of these populations (as necessary). Population studies may reveal that this species exhibits metapopulation dynamics, in which case its persistence will require the availability of suitable unoccupied ("recovery") habitat. If this proves true, this species is likely threatened by deteriorating ecological conditions on a landscape scale, as many other species have exhibited (See Ambrose et al., 2004).

Recovery is currently hampered by an absence of clear data on the threats facing this species, compounded by an incomplete understanding of its basic ecology. This document details the research necessary to address these deficiencies, and the subsequent recovery actions necessary to ensure the persistence of this species in Canada.