plants are found less frequently now than they once were.
is a list of such species. You can document
declines by going to the University of Connecticut herbarium and
search for these species. Do not limit the search to Connecticut but
specimens in the database.
conducting the search, write on a piece of paper the date on which each
specimen was collected.
up the number of specimens that were collected each decade since the
collection and plot the data.
will not be able to generate a map for these species because the
suppresses the precise location information. The herbarium does this
many of these species are on the state’s endangered species list, and
important to discourage unscrupulous collectors, who might otherwise
collect these rare plants. Some of the world’s most beautiful plants
threatened with extinction because collectors harvested so many of the
wild to sell them to gardeners.
the data, get information on the species from the Plants database (or
sites; the Plants database also will tell you the common name of your
plant). Look especially for information that might help explain why the
is less widespread than it once was.
Questions to answer after
reviewing the data:
this a species that has, in fact, declined over time?
this a species that apparently always has been rare in Connecticut?
this species has declined in frequency over time, give three reasons
that might account for the decline.
else might account for changes in the number of specimens that have
been collected? In other words, can you think of situations in which a
species might not actually decline in frequency but in which there
would be fewer specimens collected, giving the appearance
of a decline?
there species here that don’t appear to be rare at all and possibly
should be considered for removal from the state’s endangered species