A strategy for conservation of rare plants in the southeastern Fall Line sandhills

Sandhills occurring along the Fall Line region of the southeastern United States support a unique flora and fauna, including a suite of threatened, endangered and sensitive (TES) plant species. However, conservation and forest management practices on federal lands throughout this region have focused largely on protecting habitat for rare animal species, including the federally-listed red-cockaded woodpecker and, recently, the gopher tortoise, which is listed in the western part of its range and declining elsewhere. Although recognized to be of conservation concern, the sandhills plant TES species are not receiving comparable attention and protection. Appropriate habitat management for at-risk sandhills animal species may, however, provide some protection for rare sandhills plants. Sixty-three populations of nine TES plant species occurring on three Federal installations (Fort Benning, Fort Gordon and the Savannah River Site) were surveyed and their habitat conditions determined, including soil characteristics, canopy openness and vegetation composition. GIS analysis using Landsat-7 enhanced thematic mapper plus imagery (leaf-on and leaf-off), combined with soils information from the sites of TES plant populations, identified potential additional habitats with extensive overlap among species. Comparison with mapped locations of 8395 gopher tortoise burrows at one installation revealed that 58% of the burrows were within areas identified as probable habitat for one to five of the TES plants. In particular, gopher tortoise sites in forest compartments managed by burning (during either growing or dormant seasons) were comparable to TES plant habitats. Thus, conservation strategies for gopher tortoise populations may enhance populations of sandhills TES plants.