Ramshaw Meadow Sand-Verbena
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Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office

Species Account

RAMSHAW MEADOWS SAND-VERBENA
(Abronia alpina)

CLASSIFICATION: Federal Candidate Species (Federal Register 64:57533 pdf; October 25, 1999, Candidate Notice of Review)

CRITICAL HABITAT: Not applicable

RECOVERY PLAN: none

DESCRIPTION:

Ramshaw Meadows sand-verbena (Abronia alpina), also known as Ramshaw Meadows abronia is a small, deeply-rooted perennial in the four o'clock family (Nyctaginaceae).  The plant is 1 to 6 inches across. See Hickman (1993) in General Information about California Plants, below, for a detailed description of the species.

DISTRIBUTION:

Ramshaw Meadows sand-verbena is known from one main population center in Ramshaw Meadow on the Kern Plateau of the Sierra Nevada and from one subpopulation is found in adjacent Templeton Meadow. Of the 34 recognizable subpopulations, all but the Templeton Meadow population, are found around the borders of Ramshaw Meadow. The total estimated area occupied is approximately 15 1/2 gross acres. The population fluctuates from year to year without any clear trends.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The primary threat to Ramshaw Meadows sand-verbena habitat is disturbance from trampling by cattle, packstock, and hikers. The dry gravel soils are easily disturbed by foot or livestock use. Trails pass through many of the subpopulations. 

The Ramshaw Meadow ecosystem may be altered by lowering of the water table due to downcutting of the South Fork of the Kern River. Lodgepole pine appears to be encroaching into occupied Abronia habitat.

Gopher activities may result in significant destruction of the species. Whole plants have been known to disappear, possibly either eaten or used for den building. In some areas, soil has been pushed up around gopher burrows completely cover the plants. The species is not eaten by cattle or deer, but light grazing by rabbits and gophers has been observed.

Significant trampling by cattle has occurred in the past. Livestock use is currently limited to trailing along a designated route through Ramshaw Meadow twice during the grazing season. Some of the subpopulations are protected by fencing, while the protection of others is dependent on close adherence to the trail.. Due to the extremely limited geographic range of the species, biological factors such as disease or pest outbreak and random chance events associated with the highly variable climate can pose a serious threat. Ramshaw Meadows sand-verbena apparently is slow to recover from disturbance because of reproductive and dispersal limitations, short life span, and high annual fluctuation in population numbers. Non-adaptive forces such as inbreeding depression may also threaten the species when the fragmented distribution of the subpopulations is combined with low numbers of plants .

Seed dispersal is very limited. Seeds tend to germinate close to the plant that produces them. Plants die after flowering once. The fragmented nature of the subpopulations may limit gene flow and contribute to poor resiliency.

The California Native Plant Society has placed it on List 1B (rare or endangered throughout its range) under the name Ramshaw Meadows abronia. Although the species has not been officially listed by the State of California, the Department of Fish and Game considers it to be "very threatened." The State also uses the alternate name.

REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

General Information about California Plants

Photo credit: Ramshaw Meadow Sand-Verbena © 2004 James M. Andre Calphoto ID: 0000 0000 0204 0507

Prepared by Endangered Species Div., Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

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