Endangered Species Coalition 2015 Top 10 Report Nominating Form
General Information
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Nominating Organizations: Please use this Column to Provide the Requested Information
Organization & Web address
Contact name for species info
Address
Email & phone
Communications staff contact name
Email & phone
Center for Plant Conservation - www.centerforplantconservation.org
Pati Vitt
Chicago Botanic Garden
pvitt@chicagobotanic.org (847) 835-8378
Travis Mowers
travis.mowers@mobot.org (314) 577-9541
General Species Information
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Common name, genus, and species
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Geographic range
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Conservation status
Remaining population size
Eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea)
http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/collection/CPC_ViewProfile.asp?CPCNum=3520
The eastern prairie fringed orchid formerly ranged westward into eastern Iowa and Missouri,
with a disjunct type locality in southeastern Oklahoma. It occurred eastward in a narrowing
peninsula across southern Wisconsin, northern and central Illinois, southern Michigan,
northern Indiana and Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania, western New York, and adjacent
southern Ontario. Disjunct populations also occurred in New Jersey, Virginia and Maine.
(USFWS 1999)
Global Rank: G2G3 Federal Status: LT
The eastern prairie fringed orchid has declined more than 70% from original county records in
the United States. Most remaining habitats are small, with fewer than 50 plants, and are not
representative of the once vast prairie populations of this orchid. A few populations, primarily
in successional vegetation, number in the hundreds or thousands. About 60 populations are
extant in Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Maine. Plants have not been
relocated in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Oklahoma.
Report Questions
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Do you have high-resolution photos that can be
used in the report?
Will you want printed reports? If so, how many?
If your species is selected, will you use the report
as a tool to organize around the species and/or
publicize its plight?
We have photos, but will need to find better images. Chicago Botanic Garden likely has
photos, or will know where to get them.
Will need to discuss with our executive director, but probably will want a few at least.
Yes, we feature a link to the ESC's Top 10 report on the home page of our website. To help the
conservation effort for this species: we will encourage the participating institution to highlight
the ESC coverage and use it as a springboard to tell more about their own work with the
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
species and their needs to get more done. In addition, we can use the coverage as a
springboard to reach out to potential funders for regional work in preserving and restoring
habitat for the species, and in funding research needed to be able to store the tiny seed of this
species and orchids in general, and to work out propagation techniques for tissue culture, both
of which would help in advancing restoration potential. For general outreach, we include a
link to the publication in our internal newsletter. We distribute the link to our conservation
directory contacts. We circulate to trustees and partners and work to highlight the named
institutions working with the species. The report can also be used to appeal to funders and it is
possible that we would discuss the publication in future newsletters.
Public Engagement Questions (Please explain why the species is interesting, why it matters, why decision-makers + the public should care.)0
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Interesting facts about the species
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Additional background information to complete
the species profile in the report
P. leucophaea is one of the largest and showiest of the native North American orchids. It is
one of at least 200 North American orchid species, and is currently listed as Federally
Threatened. This species has declined in the United States by more than 70 percent from
original county records. This decline is due mainly to habitat loss for cropland and pasture.
The 30 percent of original populations that remain are threatened by non-native species,
illegal collection, and continued habitat loss. Most remaining populations are small (fewer
than 50 plants), and only about 20 percent of these have adequate protection and
management. The species is also found in Canada, but is now known from only 12
populations. The flowers of this species are fragrant after sunset and adapted to pollination
by night flying hawkmoths.
Eastern prairie fringed orchid is a perennial orchid, with an upright leafy stem extending up to
40 inches high from an underground tuber. Its leaves sheath the stem, and are 2-8 inches
long, elliptical to lance-shaped, and progressively larger toward the stem base. The
inflorescence extends above the leaves, with 5-40 creamy white flowers subtended by lanceshaped bracts. The flowers are distinguished by a 3-parted fringed lip 1.5-3 cm long and a
nectar spur 1-2 inches long.
This species has a close relative, Platanthera praeclara, which occurs to the west of the
Mississippi River. This species is aptly named the Western prairie fringed orchid, and each
have somewhat different flower morphologies, likely because they evolved in the presence of
different pollinator species.
http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/collection/CPC_ViewProfile.asp?CPCNum=3520
http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=Q2GG
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
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What are the most important messages that
should be communicated about this species'
decline? Please be sure to indicate your
organization’s lead message that you would like
to be included in the report.
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Is your NGO working to save the species? If yes,
how? (Optional)
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How can individuals help? Please be as specific
as possible.
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Is there anything else that governments or
others could/should/are doing to save the
species?
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/federal_register/fr1494.pdf
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/federal_register/fr1602.pdf
The decline of this species show the result of habitat loss and fragmentation. The dramatic 70
percent decline of this species in the U.S. points to the conversion of habitat to cropland and
pasture, changes in hydrology, fire protection, development and invasive species--many of
which can be mitigated with proper land management practices. Much could also be said for
protecting pollinators, especially when a plant has a close relationship to a pollinator, such as
is the case with this orchid. Pati Vitt, seed bank curator at Chicago Botanic Garden says that
this species' range is predicted to make a major shift north and east by 2080. Most of the
predicted range area is not currently suitable habitat.
Chicago Botanic Garden (www.chicagobotanic.org) is a participation institution of the Center
for Plant Conservation (www.centerforplantconservation.org) and is the primary custodian for
this plant in the CPC National Collection. Chicago Botanic Garden receives annual sponsorship
money from CPC to help with the care and research needs of this plant. Some of the efforts to
protect this plant include genetic analysis, demographic monitoring, and research on
reproductive biology. Morton Arboretum (www.mortonarb.org), which is another CPC
institution, has also done work with this species.
By supporting recovery funding for the ESA and budgets for federal and state agencies. By
supporting the research and restoration efforts for this plant, including volunteering or
donating to organizations such as CPC and Chicago Botanic Garden. People can also help by
supporting appropriate insect pesticide and herbicide controls, proper land use management,
proper water use, support of controlled burning, reducing urban development, supporting
and volunteering for invasive species control measures, and by not collecting this plant. In
general, people can help by supporting laws that protect imperiled plants.
Enforce rules on haying, drainage and pesticide application. The use of herbicides, especially
on highway and railroad rights-of-way, continue to threaten this species. Controlled burning
of orchid habitat. Prairie fringed orchids are officially listed as endangered, threatened or rare
in ten states. However, only a few states where these species exist offer protection to listed
plants beyond that afforded by their presence on public lands. There is a possibility for
protection through section 6 by cooperation between states, USFWS and other federal
agencies through section 7. Long-term survival of this species also requires maintenance of
hawkmoths. Pollination of this orchid is required for seed set and is accomplished only by
hawkmoths. Any threat to these insects threatens the survival of this species. Other measures
to protect this species includes evaluation and management actions on public lands to
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
enhance orchid populations, land protection measures which will reduce disturbance to the
species' habitat and a program for landowners to educate them about this plant and how
they might alter the management of their property to benefit this speices.
Criteria-specific Questions – Please feel free to answer N/A or “see above/below” as appropriate. Please cite any substantiating scientific studies.
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Describe the specific threat(s) to the species.
A major-threat to this species is loss of pollinators. Wide-scale use of insecticides may
negatively impact hawkmoths, this orchid's only known pollinator. These pollinators are
critical for seed-set. Another major threat is habitat fragmentation. Most Platanthera
leucophaea populations have been lost through destruction and modification of habitat primarily conversion of habitat to cropland and pasture. Alteration of hydrology, fire
protection, and development now pose the greatest threats to this species' habitat. Ditching
or tile drainage reduces soil moisture, which impacts orchid growth and flowering and
successional changes. Fire suppression reduces orchid flowering, causes deterioration of
vegetation. Urban development is becoming an increasingly important cause of habitat
destruction. Competition from exotic species, especially in wetlands, may reduce orchid
populations. Invasions of wetlands by purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), glossy buckthorn
(Rhamnus frangula), and reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) also aggressively invades
are the primary causes of this process. Illegal collection of plants may have minor, but
significant, impacts on smaller populations. Because native terrestrial orchids are rarely
grown from seed, adult plants are often sought for commercial purposes, or for gardens.
Smaller populations of this orchid would be adversely affected by collecting.
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/990929.pdf
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/five_year_review/doc3273.%20prairie%20fringed%20orchid_Final%
20081610.pdf
Argus, G.W., K.M. Pryer, D.J. White and C.J. Keddy (eds.). 1982-1987. Atlas
of the Rare Vascular Plants of Ontario.. Botany Division, National Museum of National
Sciences, Ottawa.
Bender, J. 1986. Element Stewardship Abstract for PLATANTHERA LEUCOPHAEA, Prairie
Fringed Orchid. The Nature Conservancy. Midwest Regional Office, Minneapolis, MN. 14
unnumbered pp.
Bowles, M. L., and D. Kurz. 1981. Unpublished report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on
the Illinois status of Platanthera leucophaea. Natural Land Institute, Rockford. 7 pp.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
Bowles, M. and R. Flakne. 1992. Status and population fluctuations of the eastern prairie
fringed orchid [Platanthera leucophaea (Nutt.) Lindl.] in Illinois. Erigenai 12: 26-40.
Bowles, M.L. 1983. The tallgrass orchids Platanthera leucophaea (Nutt.) Lindl. and
Cypripedium candidum Muhl. ex Willd., and implications toward management. Natural Areas
J. 3(4): 14-37.
Bowles, M.L. 1983. The tallgrass prairie orchids PLATANTHERA LEUCOPHAEA (Nutt.) Lindl. and
CYPRIPEDIUM CANDIDUM Muhl. ex Willd.: some aspecits of their status, biology, and ecology,
and implications towards manangement. Natural Areas Journal 3(4):14-37.
Bowles, M.L. 1993. Draft federal recovery plan for Platanthera leucophaea. U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, Region 3, Endangered Species Office, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Bowles, M.L. 1999. Eastern prarie fringed orchid Platanthera leucophaea (Nuttall) Lindley. U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. 1-58 pp.
Bowles, M.L., K.A. Jacobs, L.W. Zettler, and T.W. Delaney. 2002. Crossing effects on seed
viability and experimental germination of the federal threatened Platanthera leucophaea
(Orchidaceae). Rhodora 104(917): 14-30.
Bowles, M.L., K.A. Jacobs, L.W. Zettler, and T.W. Delaney. 2002. Crossing effects on seed
viability and experimental germination of the federal threatened Platanthera leucophaea
(Orchidaceae). Rhodora 104(917):14-30.
Bowles, M.L., L. Zettler, T. Bell, and P. Kelsey. 2005. Relationships between soil characteristics,
distribution and restoration potential of the federally threatened Eastern Prairie Fringed
Orchid, Platanthera leucophaea (Nutt.) Lindl. American Midland Naturalist 154(2): 273-285.
Bowles, M.[L.], R. Flakne, and R. Dombeck. 1992. Status and population fluctuations of the
Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid [Platanthera leucophaea (Nutt.) Lindl.] in Illinois. Erigenia 12:
26-40.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
Brown, J.R. 1985. Platanthera leucophaea (Nutt.) Lind. (prairie fringed orchid) on Walpole
Island, Lambton County. The Plant Press 3(4):126-128.
Brownell, V.R. 1984. Status Report on the Prairie White Fringed Orchid (Platanthera
leucophaea): A Rare Species in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in
Canada, Ottawa. 39 pp. [Initial report]
Brownell, V.R. 1986. Status report on the eastern prairie white-fringed orchid PLATANTHERA
LEUCOPHAEA. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. 38 pp.
Brownell, V.R. and P.M. Catling. 2000. COSEWIC status report on Eastern Prairie FringedOrchid, Platanthera leucophaea. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
27 pp.
Brownell, V.R. and P.M. Catling. 2000. Update COSEWIC Status Report on Eastern Prairie
Fringed-orchid (Plantanthera leucophaea). 25 pp.
COSEWIC 2003. COSEWIC assessment and update status report on the eastern prairie fringedorchid Platanthera leucophaea in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in
Canada. Ottawa. vi + 27 pp.
Catling, P.M., V.R. Brownell, and G. Allen. 1999. A new natural hybrid fringed-orchid from
Ontario. Lindleyana 14(2):77-86.
Catling, P.M., and V.R. Brownell. 1999. Platanthera lacera x leucophaea, a new cryptic natural
hybrid, and a key to northeastern North American fringed-orchids. Canadian Journal of
Botany 77:1144-1149.
Chapman, K., and S. Crispin. 1985. A comprehensive survey for Platanthera leucophaea
(Prairie white fringed orchid) in Michigan. Michigan Natural Features Inventory, Lansing,
Michigan.
Correll, D.S. 1950 [1978]. Native orchids of North America north of Mexico. Stanford Univ.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
Press, Stanford, California. 400 pp.
Currier, P.J. 1984. Response of Prairie Fringed Orchid to Fire and Reduction in Grazing
(Nebraska). Restoration & Management Notes. Vol. II, No. 1. (p. 28).
Denny, G.L. 1987. Prairie white fringed orchid PLATANTHERA LEUCOPHAEA (Nutt.) Lindl..
OHIO Natural Resourses Newsletter 9(3).
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United
States and Adjacent Canada. The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York. 910 pp.
Holmgren, Noel. 1998. The Illustrated Companion to Gleason and Cronquist's Manual.
Illustrations of the Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. The
New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York.
Hunt, L. 2003. Eastern Prairie White-fringed Orchid (Platanthera leucophaea) Site Survey
Report OMNR South Central Region 2002. Species at Risk Program, OMNR, Kemptville District.
12 unnumbered pages.
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada,
and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Kartesz, John T. 1991. Synonym names from 1991 checklist, as extracted by Larry Morse, TNC,
June 1991.
Luer, C.A. 1975. The native orchids of the United States and Canada excluding Florida. New
York Botanical Garden. 361 pp.
Matthews, J. R., and C. J. Moseley, ( eds.) 1992. The Official World Wildlife Fund Guide to
Endangered Species of North America. Volume 3: Species Listed August 1989 to December
1991. Beacham Publishing, Inc. Washington, D.C..
Midewin National Tallgrass Prarie. 1998. Assessment of the reintroduction potential of five
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
federally threatened and endangered plant species at midewin national tallgrass prarie
(Platanthera leucophaea). Zambrana Engineering, Inc. 1-17 pp.
Mitchell, Richard S. and Gordon C. Tucker. 1997. Revised Checklist of New York State Plants.
Contributions to a Flora of New York State. Checklist IV. Bulletin No. 490. New York State
Museum. Albany, NY. 400 pp.
Morton, J.K., and J.M. Venn. 1990. A checklist of the flora of Ontario vascular plants.
University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada. 218 pp.
Oldham, M.J. 1996. COSSARO Candidate V,T,E Species Evaluation Form for Eastern Prairie
White Fringed Orchard (Platanthera leucophaea). Unpublished report prepared by Natural
Heritage Information Centre for Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in Ontario
(COSSARO), Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. 4 pp.
Oldham, M.J. 2000. COSSARO Candidate V, T, E Species Evaluation Form for Eastern Prairie
Fringed-orchid (Platanthera leucophaea). Committee on the Status of Species at Risk in
Ontario (COSSARO), Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Peterborough, Ontario (October
2000). 8 pp. + 5 appendices.
Reddoch, J. 1977. Prairie White Fringed Orchid A New Orchid for the Ottawa Area. Trail &
Landscape. 11(1):16-19..
Reddoch, J.M. and A.H. Reddoch. 1997. The orchids in the Ottawa District: floristics,
phytogeography, population studies and historical review. Canadian Field-Naturalist 111(1):1185.
Shaw, A., Promaine, A. and F. Burrows. 2003. Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera
leucopaea) Monitoring, EIMP 2003. Bruce Peninsula National Park, Parks Canada. 9 pp.
Sheviak C.J. & M.L. Bowles. 1986. The prairie fringed orchids: a pollinator-isolated species
pair. Rhodora 88(854);267-290.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
Sheviak, C. 1974. An introduction to the ecology of the Illinois Orchidaceae. Illinios State
Museum, Springfield, IL. 89p.
Sheviak, C.J. 1987. On the Occurrence of PLATANTHERA LEUCOPHAEA in Louisiana and
Arkansas. Journal of the New England Botanical Club. Vol.89 No.860. pp.347-350.
Sieg, C.J. & R.M. King. 1995. Influence of environmental factors and preliminary demographic
analyses of a threatened orchid, PLATANTHERA PRAECLARA. Am. Midl. Nat. 134:307-323.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1989. Determination of threatened status for eastern and
western prairie fringed orchids. Federal Register 54(187): 39857-39862.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1989. Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants;
Determination of Threatened Status for Eastern and Western Prairie Fringed Orchids.
Department of the Interior. Federal Register. Vol.54, No. 187 (pp.39857-39862).
Wallace, L.E. 2003. The Cost of Inbreeding in Plantanthera leucophaea (Orchidaceae).
American Journal of Botany 90(2): 235-242.
Weldy, T. and D. Werier. 2010. New York flora atlas. [S.M. Landry, K.N. Campbell, and L.D.
Mabe (original application development), Florida Center for Community Design and Research
http://www.fccdr.usf.edu/. University of South Florida http://www.usf.edu/]. New York Flora
Association http://wwws.nyflora.org/, Albany, New York
Windus, J.L., K.E. Cochrane, and W.P. Stoutamire. 1994. Eastern Prairie White-fringed Orchid
(PLATANTHERA LEUCOPHAEA) 1993 Survey and Monitoring in Ohio. U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Twin Cities, Minnesota. 19 pp.
Zanoni, T.A., J.L. Gentry, Jr., R.J. Tyrl and P.G. Risser. 1979. Endangered and threatened plants
of Oklahoma. Univ. of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State Univ., Norman. 64 pp.
Zettler, L.W., S.L. Stewart, M.L. Bowles, and K.A. Jacobs. 2001. Mycorrhizal fungi and coldassisted symbiotic germination of the federally threatened Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid,
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
Platanthera leucophaea (Nuttall) Lindley. American Midland Naturalist 145: 168-175.
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Most remaining populations are small (fewer than 50 plants), and only about 20 percent of
these have adequate protection and management.
Why is it in need of greater connectivity?
White fringed orchids require hawkmoth (SPHINGIDAE) pollination for sexual
reproduction. The flowers are nocturnally fragrant and place pollinia on the proboscises of
hawkmoths as they ingest a high-volume nectar resource from long nectar spurs. As in
most orchids, the flowers are morphologically adapted to outcrossing, but plants appear to
be self-compatible and probably receive high levels of self-pollination in small populations
when pollinators revisit inflorescences.
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Is its geographic range shifting?
Is there concern around the cyclical/seasonal life
of the species and its interactions within
ecosystems?
Yes, see No. 16 above.
Both high precipitation levels and fire have been suggested to promote flowering of
Platanthera leucophaea in tallgrass prairie habitat, but moisture levels appear to be an
overriding factor. Over a twelve-year period in Illinois, percent flowering in P. leucophaea
populations was higher in wetland habitat and was positively correlated with growing
season rainfall. Over time, flowering plants also appeared more quickly in wetland habitat
after a severe 1988 drought. Thus, burning would most likely promote flowering in
tallgrass prairie wetlands or during years of high growing season rainfall.
Disturbance may be important in Platanthera leucophaea seedling establishment. Patch
disturbance regimes or early-successional vegetation stages are critical for seedling
establishment of disturbance-adapted plants, and terrestrial orchids are well known for
colonization following disturbance. Platanthera leucophaea populations reach highest
densities in disturbed habitats or early- to mid-successional plant communities. Soil fungi
responsible for orchid seedling establishment might also respond to similar disturbance or
successional patterns. Under apparently favorable conditions or in successional habitats,
flowering P. leucophaea have appeared as soon as 5 years after seed dispersal.
The root systems of terrestrial orchids are reduced, and evidently require mycorrhizae for
proper water uptake and nutrition especially under stress. (Annual tuber regeneration in
orchids may also require reinfection by mycorrhizae. Thus the stability of orchid
populations is closely related to the ecological conditions of their mycorrhizae, which may
be in part regulated by the increased mycorrhizal productivity that occurs after spring
burning of prairie. This relationship is dynamic; orchids occasionally enter dormancy
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
(possibly with mycorrhizal nutrition), or decline as mycorrhizae become reduced.
Although Platanthera leucophaea is pre-adapted to dormant season disturbances such as
prairie fires, growing season damage to vegetative material may weaken plants by limiting
food storage.
The eastern prairie fringed orchid formerly ranged westward into eastern Iowa and
Missouri, with a disjunct type locality in southeastern Oklahoma. It occurred eastward in a
narrowing peninsula across southern Wisconsin, northern and central Illinois, southern
Michigan, northern Indiana and Ohio, northwestern Pennsylvania, western New York,
and adjacent southern Ontario. Disjunct populations also occurred in New Jersey, Virginia
and Maine. (USFWS 1999)
Genetic surveys using allozyme and RAPDs techniques have found that populations may
have relatively high levels of genetic diversity, and that genetic differentiation may occur
among populations.
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Does it have isolated populations?
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Is it at risk of low genetic diversity?
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How urgent is the need for greater connectivity
in order to conserve this species? Does it face a
current, imminent, or future threat?
Most of the threats to this species are widespread, but there are a few, such as
overcollecting, that could have a negative impact on a particular population if that population
contained a very small number of individuals. The dramatic decline in the population of this
plant species indicates a loss of prairie and wetlands, since this orchid is a moisture-sensitive
plant. Any changes in the hydrology of this plant will have a negative impact.
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Indicate if there is an associated political threat.
For instance, is this species being actively
attacked by an industry group or member of
Congress?
None known
Judge’s Score for Severity and Extent of Threat:
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3
Detail information on any social or economic
benefits the species provides—e.g., its value for
recreation or as a subject of scientific research.
(Optional)
Detail the ecological importance of the species
(e.g., is it a keystone species?).
Wild species are very important in the horticulture industry because traits that these wild
plants have can be studied and possibly bred into plants that are in the horticulture trade. Wild
species may have insect tolerance, disease resistance, or drought tolerance that can be useful
to solve a problem for commercially important species.
Hawkmoth is the only known pollinator-------This species occurs in habitats supporting
successional vegetation. Without management these populations may decline in response to
changing vegetation patterns. Some populations are small and occur on small isolated prairie
remnants, where seed set and reproduction is limited by dependence on chance visitation
from pollinators. Platanthera leucophaea is very interesting because it is a sister species of
Platanthera praeclara. While the two species only recently diverged, they have very different
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies
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Describe how the species could be considered an
"ambassador" or “flagship” species to enlist
public support for conservation.
0
reproductive strategies. This interesting relationship provides numerous opportunities for
scientific study, and could increase understanding of pollinator networks, etc.
This orchid suffers from habitat loss and fragmentation. The dramatic decline in its population
demonstrates the negative affect of fragmentation of prairielands. This species is also reliant
on moist areas and wetlands. The draining of wetlands for cropland, pasture and
development purposes is a major factor in this species' decline. With the close relationship
that this species has with the hawkmoth, it can also be considered an ambassador to highlight
why pollinator protection is so important and vice versa. The hawkmoth surely suffers from
the decline of this orchid.
Judge’s Score for Importance of Species
Judge’s Final Score
Please submit to top10@endangered.org, and thank you for participating in the 2015 Top 10 Report.
Please cite any substantiating scientific studies