For Immediate Release, November 6, 2023
Jeff Miller, (510) 499-9185, firstname.lastname@example.org
Two California Island Plants Saved From Extinction by Endangered Species Act
LOS ANGELES— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today removed two Channel Islands plants from the endangered species list because they have successfully recovered.
The island bedstraw and Santa Cruz Island dudleya live only on two of the Northern Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara. They were imperiled because of grazing, trampling and soil erosion caused by sheep and feral pigs introduced to the islands, and were protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1997. Sheep and pigs were subsequently removed from the islands which allowed both rare plants to expand and has benefitted the entire island ecosystem.
“The Endangered Species Act rescued these two unique California plants,” said Jeff Miller, a senior conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Act is our most effective tool for bringing endangered plants and wildlife back from the brink of extinction with a 99% success rate in recovering species under its protection.”
Island bedstraw is a 3-foot-tall woody shrub with small greenish-white flowers that lives only on Santa Cruz and San Miguel islands. It’s increased from 19 known sites and around 500 to 600 individual plants in 1997, to 42 sites with more than 15,700 individual plants in recent surveys.
Santa Cruz Island dudleya, also known as Santa Cruz Island liveforever, is a succulent perennial known to live in only one area on the westernmost tip of Santa Cruz Island. Since receiving protections under the Act and the removal of sheep and pigs, the population has fluctuated between 40,000 to 200,000 individuals. The population has stabilized at 120,000 plants with an increase in distribution around the island.
Botanists have begun conservation banking of both plants’ seeds and the Service has developed a monitoring plan to ensure the plants continue to thrive. This is especially important for the Santa Cruz Island dudleya, which inhabits a single area that’s vulnerable to sea-level rise caused by climate change.
The island bedstraw and Santa Cruz Island dudleya join 61 other species of plants and animals that have successfully recovered under federal protection, including bald eagles, peregrine falcons, humpback whales, Coastal California sunflowers and Channel Islands foxes.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.7 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
"Jeff Miller, (510) 499-9185, ""Mimea miwili ya Kisiwa cha California Imeokolewa Kutoka kwa Uharibifu na Sheria ya Spishi zilizo Hatari""" Shirika la Ulinzi wa Samaki na Wanyama wa Pori la Marekani limeondoa mimea miwili ya visiwa vya Channel kutoka kwenye orodha ya spishi zinazokabili hatari ya kutoweka kwa sababu ya kufanikiwa kupona. Mnyama anayeitwa island bedstraw na Santa Cruz Island dudleya huishi katika visiwa viwili tu vya Channel Islands kaskazini mwa pwani ya Santa Barbara. Wanyama hao walikuwa katika hatari kutokana na malisho, kukanyaga na uharibifu wa udongo unaosababishwa na kondoo na nguruwe wa mwituni walioletwa kwenye visiwa hivyo, na walihifadhiwa chini ya Sheria ya Spishi zilizo Hatarini mwa Kutoweka mnamo 1997. Baada ya hapo, kondoo na nguruwe waliondolewa kwenye visiwa hivyo, na hivyo mimea hiyo miwili ya nadra ikaanza kuenea na kuwanufaisha watu wote wa kisiwa hicho. "Sheria ya Spishi Zilizokabili Hatari iliokoa mimea hii miwili ya kipekee ya California", alisema Jeff Miller, mtetezi mwandamizi wa uhifadhi na Kituo cha Tofauti ya Kibiolojia. "Sheria hii ni chombo chetu bora cha kurudisha mimea na wanyama wa porini walio hatarini mwa kutoweka, na kiwango cha mafanikio cha 99% katika kurudisha spishi chini ya ulinzi wake. "" - Island Bedshrub, mti wa miti wa mita 3 na maua madogo ya kijani-kibichi ambayo huishi tu kwenye visiwa vya Santa Cruz na San Miguel." Tangu mwaka 1997 ambapo kulikuwa na maeneo 19 ya mimea 500 hadi 600, sasa kuna maeneo 42 na mimea zaidi ya 15,700. Santa Cruz Island Dudleya (SIDD) ni mimea ya kudumu inayojulikana kama Santa Cruz Island. Tangu kupewa ulinzi chini ya Sheria na kuondolewa kwa kondoo na nguruwe, idadi ya watu imebadilika kati ya watu 40,000 hadi 200,000. Idadi ya mimea hiyo imesitawi kufikia 120,000 na idadi ya mimea hiyo imeongezeka katika kisiwa hicho. Wataalamu wa mimea wameanza kuhifadhi mbegu za mimea yote miwili na Huduma imebuni mpango wa ufuatiliaji ili kuhakikisha mimea inaendelea kusitawi. Hii ni muhimu hasa kwa Santa Cruz Island dudleya, ambayo inaishi katika eneo moja ambayo ni hatari ya kuongezeka kwa kiwango cha bahari husababishwa na mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa. Mnyama huyo anayeitwa Santa Cruz Island Dudleya anaungana na spishi nyingine 61 za mimea na wanyama ambao wamepata mafanikio ya kuokoka chini ya ulinzi wa serikali, ikiwa ni pamoja na tai wa kipofu, falcon, nyangumi, sunflower wa pwani ya California na mbweha wa Channel Islands. Kituo cha Utofauti wa Kibiolojia ni shirika la kitaifa la uhifadhi lisilo la faida lenye wanachama zaidi ya milioni 1.7 na wanaharakati wa mtandaoni waliojitolea kulinda spishi zilizo hatarini na maeneo ya mwituni.