# | Recovery Measures | Priority[3] | Threats or concerns addressed | Schedule |
---|---|---|---|---|
General strategy: Conservation of the species, its suitable habitat as well as the adjacent riparian zone | ||||
Approach: Apply legal and stewardship measures within the occurrences as well as in the adjacent shoreline in order to reduce the effects of the main threats | ||||
1 | Continue efforts to acquire, provide legal protection for and/or reach conservation agreements on priority occurrences and adjacent areas | High | All except 5 – 6 – 7 |
2014-2019 |
2 | Eliminate practices inconsistent with maintaining the species and its habitat | High | All except 5 – 6 – 7 |
2014-2019 |
3 | Take into account the presence of the species and its suitable habitat when conducting environmental assessments of projects (including repairing retaining walls), or before adopting mitigation or compensatory measures | High | All except 5 – 6 – 7 |
2014-2019 |
4 | Assess the forests adjacent to priority occurrences in order to conserve them as buffer zones for shoreline conservation | Medium | 1, 9 | 2014-2019 |
5 | Assess the quality indices of riparian strips for all priority occurrences to target priority intervention sites | Medium | 12 | 2014-2019 |
6 | Improve mapping and signage (e.g., placards) at occurrences with conservation/protection status | Medium | 2, 4 | 2014-2019 |
Approach: Maintain or implement management approaches aiming at increasing the abundance of the species and the area of occupancy of its suitable habitat | ||||
7 | Determine whether the 14 priority occurrences can be managed to make them sufficiently productive to maintain or increase the species’ overall population and area of occupancy | Medium | 12 | 2014-2019 |
8 | Explore approaches for increasing populations | Medium | 12 | 2014-2019 |
9 | Restore habitat where technically feasible | Low | All except 6 | 2014-2019 |
General strategy: Surveys and monitoring | ||||
Approach: Establish a monitoring program for this species with highly fluctuating local populations | ||||
10 | Develop a quick method for estimating the number of individuals in an occurrence | High | 12 | 2014 |
11 | Determine how often surveys have to be conducted to understand the population dynamics of the species (interannual variations in abundance, trends and hardiness) | Medium | 12 | 2014 |
12 | Expand the monitoring of occurrences initiated in 2008 to other occurrences | Medium | 12 | 2014-2019 |
13 | Clarify the status of the population in Boischatel | Medium | 12 | 2014 |
14 | Regularly check whether the species is present or absent in suitable habitat that is not currently colonized | Low | 12 | 2014-2019 |
General strategy: Research | ||||
Approach: Clarify certain demographic parameters of Victorin’s Gentian (vitality, viability of occurrences and threat responses) | ||||
15 | Develop and implement a research program to provide a better understanding of the impact of major threats to the survival of the species | Medium | All | 2014-2019 |
16 | Determine the minimum size for a viable population | Medium | 12 | 2014–2015 |
17 | Determine whether the species is a seed bank and, if so, determine its longevity | Medium | 12 | 2014-2019 |
General strategy: Communication and outreach | ||||
Approach: Develop and implement a communications strategy with partner organizations, special interest groups, landowners and the general public | ||||
18 | Encourage exchanges between stakeholders (scientists, recovery groups and implementation groups, NGOs, levels of government, the general public, and private landowners) through yearly meetings, presentations to partners, information sessions for citizens, etc. | High | All | 2014-2019 |
19 | Encourage support from the general public and land-management decision-makers (municipalities, regional county municipalities (RCMs), regional conferences of elected officials, etc.) through various initiatives such as conducting project pre-feasibility studies and focusing on promoting compliance with laws, regulations and policies | High | All | 2014-2019 |
20 | Continue outreach to shoreline property owners using tools such as brochures, non-technical articles, websites, conservation maps, shoreline quality indices, landowners’ notebooks, annual information sessions, etc. | Medium | All | 2014-2019 |
Threats and limiting factors: 1) shoreline filling and infrastructure development; 2) human trampling; 3) invasive plants; 4) mowing and flower picking; 5) overabundant animal populations; 6) changes in salinity due to climate change; 7) ice scour; 8) pollution; 9) erosion; 10) oil spills; 11) accumulation of debris on the shoreline; and 12) gaps in knowledge.
3 “Priority” reflects the extent to which the action contributes directly to recovery of the species or is an essential precursor to an action that contributes to the recovery of the species.