Does Plant Beauty or Apparency Cause Bias in the Conservation of California’s Rare Plants?

Abstract

In this study, we examine potential bias in conservation efforts for California rare and imperiled plants based on apparency and beauty as well as state and federal regulatory designations. We evaluate floral traits associated with beauty and apparency such as floral size, stem length, floral color, and geographic location and how these traits may affect conservation collections and research interest. Stem length was the strongest predictor for both conservation collection quantity and quality, with taller plants significantly favored. For other floral traits, significant effects were occasionally observed within certain federal regulatory designations, but were otherwise largely insignificant. Species with ranges in the Southern part of the state were weakly favored in collection as well as species in the Eastern portion of the state. Federal listing status has great effect on conservation actions taken for California rare plant species. Future conservation efforts should prioritize collection of and research on thus far understudied plants, such as those lacking a federal listing and those with shorter stems.