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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) has completed a final recovery plan for a rare native flower, the Pecos sunflower. The showy plant survives in less than two dozen known locations in the desert wetlands of New Mexico and west Texas.
The plant was added to the list of threatened and endangered plants in1999. Recovery plans identify specific, voluntary actions that will help recover the plant so that it may be removed from the list of threatened and endangered species. Objectives and criteria for delisting a species are spelled out. In addition, the plant's status and current management practices are noted in the recovery plan.
-22. While somewhat similar in appearance to the common sunflower, which prefers dry soils, the Pecos sunflower has a cluster of several smaller flowers at the tip, which are slightly reddish in color. The sunflower only grows in saturated soils such as desert wetlands (cienegas) so its habitat is very limited. The flower's survival is vulnerable due to aquifer depletions, diversions of surface water, filling wetlands for conversion to dry land, and potential competition with nonnative invasive species invasive species
An invasive species is any plant or animal that has spread or been introduced into a new area where they are, or could, cause harm to the environment, economy, or human, animal, or plant health. Their unwelcome presence can destroy ecosystems and cost millions of dollars.
Learn more about invasive species . Seed dispersal is also restricted because of the distance from one wetland to another. Surveys have found the sunflower in Pecos and Reeves Counties in Texas and Chaves, Cibola, Guadalupe, Socorro and Valencia Counties in New Mexico.
Recovery actions designed to achieve the objectives include identifying and securing core conservation habitats essential for the long-term survival of this species, continuing life history, population, and habitat studies, and ensuring compliance with existing regulations. The species is present on Federal, State, and private lands in New Mexico and Texas. Pursuing voluntary conservation opportunities with landowners is a high priority.
The Service has several partners in the recovery of Pecos sunflower. A large population of Pecos sunflower was discovered in 2004 at La Joya State Waterfowl Management Area near Socorro. The Nature Conservancy manages Pecos sunflower at its Diamond Y Springs and Sandia Springs Preserves in West Texas, and the State of New Mexico recently acquired a significant conservation habitat near Santa Rosa, New Mexico. This was the first New Mexico land acquisition for a threatened or endangered plant.
The recovery plan is available on the Internet at:
COLOR: blue; http://ifw2es.fws.gov/Mexico or http://www.fws.gov/endangered/recovery/
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To obtain a paper copy of the plan, contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, New Mexico Ecological Services Field Office, 2105 Osuna NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87113, 505-346-2525.
Visit the Service's website at http:/" /www.fws.gov">.
