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Plant Profile

Santa Cruz Island Dudleya (Dudleya nesiotica)

Dudleya nesiotica is found on the seabluffs and terraces of Santa Cruz Island. Photo Credit: Dieter Wilken

Global Rank: G1 - Critically Imperiled
Legal Status: Federally Threatened
Family: Crassulaceae
State: CA
Nature Serve ID: 143428
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Categories of Interest: Cacti/Succulents
Date Inducted in National Collection: 01/17/2019

Description:

Santa Cruz Island liveforever occupies an area of about 13 hectares (32 acres) on the west end of Santa Cruz Island. Plants are summer dormant, surviving by means of corms 10-30 mm in diameter. Leaves appear after the first winter rains and senesce coincident with flowering in April and May. Each plant produces 1-5 inflorescences, each with 7-15 white to cream-colored flowers. Historical records indicate that at least half of the present distribution was plowed and cultivated in the late 1890s, followed by sheep and cattle grazing until the 1930s. Thus, the species may have experienced some level of recovery, especially since the last sheep were removed in the 1980s. However, since the mid 1990s, the species has become increasingly threatened by feral pigs, which actively forage for succulent leaves and flowering shoots and uproot corms and roots of associated plants.

Where is Santa Cruz Island Dudleya (Dudleya nesiotica) located in the wild?

Habitat:

Rocky clay soils derived from Quaternary alluvium, probably representing an uplifted Pleistocene beach terrace. Common associates include Hordeum brachyantherum, Atriplex californicum, Frankenia salina, Salicornia subterminalis, and Nassella pulchra. (USFWS 1997)

Distribution:

Known only from the west end of Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara County, California. (USFWS 1997)

States & Provinces:

Santa Cruz Island Dudleya can be found in California

Which CPC Partners conserve Santa Cruz Island Dudleya (Dudleya nesiotica)?

California Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Conservation Actions

Assigned 06/09/17

University of California-Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden

Not Sponsored

Assigned 01/17/19

The Huntington

Not Sponsored

Assigned 10/30/23

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden holds 18 accessions of Dudleya nesiotica in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 45594 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden holds 1 accessions of Dudleya nesiotica in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 13071 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

09/01/2020

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, National Laboratory for Genetic Resource Preservation (USDA-ARS) holds 1 accessions of Dudleya nesiotica in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 500 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

08/05/2020

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has collected 19 seed accessions of Dudleya nesiotica from 4 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass 1005 maternal plants

08/05/2020

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden has collected 1 seed accessions of Dudleya nesiotica from 1 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass an unknown number of maternal plants

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Known from only 2 occurrences (probably representing 1 large population) on Santa Cruz Island off the coast of southern California. There are 30,000-60,000 plants in total. Threats include predation, and soil loss and other habitat degredation due to the rooting of non-native feral pigs. All of the northern Channel Islands have suffered loss and degradation of their soils and major changes in their plant communities due to the large numbers of non-native mammals introduced to the islands starting in the early 1800's.

Dieter Wilken, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

As listed in the recovery plan for thirteen plant taxa from the northern channel islands (USFWS 2000): Herbivory and soil disturbance by feral pigs. Competition from alien weeds, primarily grasses (Lolium perenne).

Dieter Wilken, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Approximately 30,000 - 60,000 plants, comprising 3-4 discontinuous populations of relatively high densities, occupy an area of about 13 hectares. (USFWS 2000)

Dieter Wilken, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Long-term monitoring, demographic and life history studies, and in situ recovery experiments using several age classes of corms are being conducted by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. (Wilken 1996)

Dieter Wilken, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Populations occur on land owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy. A dirt road that once extended into the easternmost populations has been closed by a barrier. Currently, The Nature Conservancy and the National Park Service are developing a plan for pig removal, but no short-term measures are being taken to protect existing populations from pigs.

Dieter Wilken, Ph.D.

01/01/2010

Genetic analyses within and among populations.