Flower at risk: UPEI biologists attempting to repopulate threatened plant

UPEI's Department of Biology is attemptingto repopulatethe Gulf of St. Lawrence Aster a plant designated as threatened under Canada's Species at Risk Act.

"We're under contract from Parks Canada to produce some of these plants to reintroduce them to historical sites in order to reestablish populations there," explained UPEI Biology Professor ChristianLacroix.

The Gulf of St. Lawrence Aster is a annual flower and member of the sunflower family.

It's small and puffy like a dandelion andgrows in marshy, dune-like habitats across the Maritimes. It only growsin just two placeswithin the National Park in P.E.I.,where the plants are monitored regularly.

"It's a fairly competitive and harsh environment there," he said.

As an annual plant, it's not only threatened by the winterbut bycompetition from other grass plants, climate change andhuman activity, said Lacroix.

"It drops its seeds and relies on those seeds to grow to survive. If they're washed away or buried a little deeper, they don't germinate."

Hoping they last to Spring

Lacroixis joined by students in theUPEIgreenhouse to grow and nurture the plants before they're transported to the National Park and other spots in the Maritimes.

"We try get them to the flowering stage so that when we transplant them we know they have flowered,"Lacroix said.

"We know they are in the process of producing their seed and hopefully get through their cycle [and]drop their seed we'll see what happens next spring."

Although the flower has little use or benefit for humans, he added, it's important to look at the big picture understanding how plants fit and interact within an ecosystem.

"Whether it's an important plant or not its always a good thing to maintain that diversity and see why we have changes in population over time."

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