This showy wildflower species is confirmed extant only in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, where it has been documented from about 70 localized occurrences, of which about 50 are extant. It occurs only in a scarce, specialized habitat, the Pine Barrens savannas which are open, boggy fens along a few slow-flowing Pine Barrens creeks or rivers. This savanna habitat has declined from several thousand acres about 1900 to only a thousand acres in recent decades. The majority of the extant populations are restricted to three adjacent tributaries of the Mullica River, in the center of the Pine Barrens. Although the plant is locally abundant at a few sites, with thousands of individuals, most populations are moderate or small in size. additional populations in New Jersey have been lost, and some of those remaining are currently threatened by woody succession, flooding by beavers, creation of cranberry bogs, or incompatible recreational activities. Those on private lands are also threatened by development. A few highly disjunct populations have been documented from Delaware, North Carolina, and South Carolina, but these are all believed lost, with Maryland and New York reports rejected.

Hydrological change -- Narthecium americanum is primarily threatened by changes to the local hydrologic regime. Increased inundation caused by beaver impoundments or by conversion of swamp habitat to cranberry bogs or recreational lakes has exterminate

35 extant populations (the only ones remaining of 60 historic occurrences) are known from New Jersey (NatureServe 2001). Since populations generally consist of fewer than 100 individual plants, the total world population is likely less than 3000.

Links between water chemistry, ecosystem function and plant community composition are being studied as of June 2000 in the Pine Barrens by Matthew Palmer, graduate student at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey (thesis advisor: Dr. Joan Ehrenfeld). The New England Wild Flower Society (Framingham, Massachusetts) has successfully germinated seeds of N. americanum. Dried seed will germinate without refrigeration, but chilling improves germination. Stored seed remains viable for at least 7 years. Leslie Duthie at Norcross Sanctuary (Monson, Massachusetts) has propagated the plants from cuttings.

No information is available on specific management activities addressing Narthecium americanum.

Field and greenhouse studies to identify factors that inhibit seedling establishment Long-term studies to determine how long populations can persist using only vegetative reproduction Population viability analysis from multi-year studies of several populations Field studies to quantify the prevalence of herbivory in populations and the degree to which this threatens viability Controlled-burn studies to determine thresholds of fire tolerance and the ecophysiology of seed germination and seedling colonization following fire Canopy removal studies that document the responses of plants to clearing and removal of shade Surveys of suitable swamp habitat in Delaware, Maryland, and the Carolinas to potentially identify more populations of the plant Molecular phylogenetic studies to determine relatedness of Narthecium americanum to the congeners N. asiaticum, N. ossifragum, and N. californicum.

Seed longevity studies to determine whether propagules are recalcitrant or tolerant of storage If storage is feasible, seed should be collected from marginal or threatened populations Seed bank and survival of plants following germination