Volume 57, 1 September 2015, Article number 2386, Pages 110-117
Department of Biology, Life Science Building, West Virginia University, P.O. Box 6057, Morgantown, WV, United States
Abstract
Abstract American
ginseng, Panax quinquefolius L., is a long-lived medicinal understory
herb, which has been heavily harvested since the 1700s. Because of the
economic value of the root, and the increasing rarity of this plant, P.
quinquefolius is often reintroduced across its range. Land managers and
hobby growers recommend using 'associate species' as a way to determine
ideal site conditions for reintroduction. However, the accuracy of these
putative indicator species in identifying sites that will maximize
growth of this rare herb has not been tested. Using a long-term
ecological dataset of 26 populations, we evaluated if 20 putative
indicators (herbs, shrubs, and trees) could predict P. quinquefolius
performance, as measured by the relative growth rate of the leaf area,
at the population and microsite level. Of the indicators, only one tree
species was able to predict positive performance. If a P. quinquefolius
was within 10 m of a Liriodendron tulipifera L., the plant would have
increased growth, in terms of leaf area, as compared to plants that were
not within 10 m of this tree. Surprisingly, the presence of most
putative indicator species was found to be unreliable as a site quality
measure. At the population level, four putative indicators, Aralia nudicaulis
L., Acer rubrum L., Betula lenta L., and Lindera benzoin (L.) Blume,
were actually contra-indicators, as their presence at a site implied
lower P. quinquefolius performance. If Podophyllum peltatum L. was
absent from a site, but B. lenta present, P. quinquefolius had reduced
growth as compared to plants present in other combinations of P.
peltatum and B. lenta. The results from this study have important
implications for in situ conservation strategies of this rare medicinal
plant. Planting P. quinquefolius in sites that increase performance can
help ensure that reintroduction projects likely have a greater chance of
success, effectively reducing the waste of time, money, and resources
spent on projects that have lower levels of success. © 2015 Elsevier
Ltd. All rights reserved.
Author keywords
Agroforestry; American ginseng; Medicinal plants; Panax quinquefolius; Rare plant conservation; Reintroduction
Indexed keywords
Engineering controlled terms: Forecasting; Forestry; Population statistics
Agroforestry; American ginseng; Medicinal plants; Panax quinquefolius; Plant conservation; Reintroduction
Engineering main heading: Plants (botany)
GEOBASE Subject Index: agroforestry; bioindicator;
biological invasion; data set; economic analysis; environmental
indicator; growth; herb; medicinal plant; perennial plant; plant
community; prediction; rare species; species conservation
PaperChem Variable: Conservation; Plants
Species Index: Acer rubrum; Aralia nudicaulis; Betula lenta; Lindera benzoin; Liriodendron tulipifera; Panax quinquefolius; Podophyllum peltatum
