CRB: Effects of Harvesting and White-Tailed Deer Browsing on Demography and Population Viability of American Ginseng

[212411]西洋参：一种不常见的多年生植物，原产于东部落叶林。自然种群的收获是为了满足亚洲市场对这种生长缓慢、具有药用活性的植物根部的需求。阿巴拉契亚地区贫困的农村居民收获的葡萄具有多种经济、社会和文化功能。多种证据表明，在过去的两个世纪里，作为森林自然资源的人参在数量和高度上都有所下降。人参可能是双重问题的受害者——一个是采集者之间对人参根部的竞争，另一个是白尾鹿过多造成的附带影响。由于人参被列入《濒危物种国际贸易公约》附录二，联邦政府必须与各州合作，对收获的可持续性进行认证。然而，在美国，没有标准化的监测程序、人口统计数据或人口活力估计。本研究的主要目标是通过评估人口增长率来填补这一空白，诊断人口低增长率发生的原因（关注收获和浏览作为可能的因素），并评估扭转人口下降的可能处方。这项研究也将提供人参在灭绝概率方面的预测，因为它们可能因管理方案而异。来自四个州地区（印第安纳州、肯塔基州、弗吉尼亚州和西弗吉尼亚州）的天然人参种群将在四年期间（2002 - 2005年）进行研究，继续2000年开始的数据收集过程。利用群体生物学的分析和建模工具，上述研究目标将得到解决。这项研究将是迄今为止评估人参现状和潜在保护策略的最广泛、最深入的努力。这项研究有可能影响成千上万的人参收割者，以及许多地方、州和联邦土地管理者和监管机构。在保护生物学和种群生物学的科学中，人参的例子可以成为种群生物学知识如何应用于保护本地植物物种和围绕该物种发展的文化传统的典范。本科生和研究生参与对这种迷人的本土植物的研究，将进一步发展保护生物学的专业知识和兴趣。

0212411McGrawAmerican ginseng an uncommon perennial plant native to the eastern deciduous forest. Harvest of natural populations occurs in response to demand for roots of this slow-growing, medicinally active plant from the Asian market. Its harvest by rural, often poor, Appalachian people serves several economic, social and cultural functions. Multiple lines of evidence suggest ginseng as a natural resource of our forests has declined in both abundance and stature over the past two centuries. Ginseng is potentially a victim of a dual problem - one caused by competition among harvesters for the root, and a second caused by collateral effects of too many white-tailed deer. The federal government, in cooperation with states, is required to certify the sustainability of harvest since ginseng is listed on Appendix II of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). However, no standardized monitoring procedure, demographic statistics, or population viability estimates are available for ginseng in the U.S. The primary goal of this research is to fill this gap by assessing population growth rates, diagnosing causes of low population growth rates where they occur (focusing on harvest and browsing as possible factors), and evaluating possible prescriptions for reversing population decline. This study will also provide a prognosis for ginseng in terms of extinction probabilities as they may vary with management schemes. Natural ginseng populations from a four-state area (Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia) will be studied over a four-year period (2002 - 2005), continuing a data collection process begun in 2000. Using the analysis and modeling tools of population biology, the research goals described above will be addressed. This research will be the most extensive, in-depth effort to evaluate the status and potential conservation strategies for ginseng to date. The research has the potential to impact tens of thousands of ginseng harvesters as well as numerous local, state, and federal land managers and regulatory agencies. In the science of conservation biology and population biology, the example of ginseng could become a model for how knowledge of population biology can be applied to preserve both a native plant species and the cultural traditions that have developed around that species. Undergraduate and graduate student involvement with research on this charismatic native plant will develop further expertise and interest in conservation biology.