Climate Change And Threatened Flora Project Officer
CurrentAscension is an extremely remote oceanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. Since colonisation in 1815, the island's unique terrestrial habitats have been ravaged by goats, sheep, rabbits, rats, introduced inverterbate pests and numerous invasive plants. Only seven species belonging to the endemic vascular have survived, and these are now under further pressure through climate change. A key element of my role has focused on rescuing the rapidly dwindling population of Euphorbia origanoides, a desert shrublet suffering from increased droughts in its marginal refuges. We have embarked on one of the first attempts at an 'assisited migration', moving the species to new sites with more favourable climate. Thus far, progress has been good: over 1,200 seedlings germinated in the first year and survival has been encouraging. Another element of the plan has focused on the critical upland cloud zone, home to much of Ascension's surviving native biodiversity. This zone is also threatened as warmer temperatures threaten to push the cloud base uphill, potentially shrinking the available habitat dramatically. In response, we have developed fog capture systems capable of harvesting huge amounts of water. In one trial, this resource is being used restore highly threatened dwarf-plant communities dependent on mist, using drip lines to keep them damp during the harshest dry periods. The next steps are to develop a range of longer-term rescue attempts for other critically endangered species, based on science-led approaches, together with a detailed understanding of the ecology in the upland zone and its rare flora. A new field guide to the islands flowering plants and ferns, authoered by myself, Jolene Sim and Stedson Stroud, is due in 2023.
