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We’ll talk about the forest species of both plants and animals which have reached the point of extinction or on the brink of extinction. The rare Canadian River spiny aster, scientific name “Herrickia Heritor”, is known to exist only in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. It’s a beautiful flower and looks similar to other asters, but its leaves are totally different. The leaf has a spiny margin. It looks more like the kind of holly leaves used as Christmas decorations than typical aster leaves. The species is so unusual that botanists created a new genus for it. It’s the only species named “Herrickia” in honor of the botanist, John Herrick, of the University of New Mexico. A number of botanists believe that this plant needs to be protected and soon, or it may become extinct.

The United State’s official wildlife service, charged with implementing the endangered species act and enforcing it, determines which species can be placed on the federal protected list, and whether those species are threatened or endangered. The Canadian River spiny asters are currently listed as a possible candidate for the federal endangered list. This is very difficult to establish as very little is known about the plant. We just don’t have substantial biological data. The Nature Conservancy is a private organization dedicated to environmental conservation. They alone make the systems for rare plants. Sometimes they lobby to get rare species put on the official federal list.

The Nature Conservancy considers the Canadian River spiny aster to be “globally vulnerable”, since it has only between 21 and 100 known occurrences – that’s in the whole world. They consider it to be “critically imperiled” within the state of Colorado, where there are only five or fewer known occurrences. There are only four isolated populations known in Colorado. That’s pretty risky distribution.

So why is this plant so rare? No one knows for sure, but several hypotheses have been suggested that the plants are often found around cliffs or the base of cliffs where they can receive some extra water because water drips off the stone. There’s a growing amount of evidence that the climate in this area has been getting warmer and drier. Maybe these spiny asters are dying out because they are not getting the moisture they need. Some biologists are worried about the green health factor. The warming atmosphere due to burning fossil fuels may push these species to extinction.

One popular hypothesis is that the Herrickia aster is becoming rare because of grazing and trampling by domestic livestock. Starting in the late 1860s, after the Civil War, cattle were observed eating the young plants. In fact, the few plants that are known in Colorado are usually found high up on cliffs in areas that are not accessible to cattle. So it seems that domestic livestock may be the problem or at least one of the problems facing this rare aster. Because so few scientific studies exist, botanists can’t really even ascertain if the Canadian River spiny aster population has actually declined.

One hypothesis suggests that it’s a newly evolved species and the population is expanding not declining. Someone said that’s true. But that’s not true. We may find out too late to save the plant.

The newest threat to the Canadian River spiny aster is the rapid development of the mountainous region where the plant is known to exist. Houses are going up all over. Many large blocks formerly undeveloped have been developed into flats. Small ranches have 35 hectares or fewer. And the land is now crossed with roads. Without official federal standards for threatened or endangered species, nothing can be done to slow down the speed of development that happening in the habitat of this rare plant.

We’ll talk about the forest species of both plants and animals which have reached the point of extinction or on the brink of extinction. The rare Canadian River spiny aster, scientific name “Herrickia Heritor”, is known to exist only in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. It’s a beautiful flower and looks similar to other asters, but its leaves are totally different. The leaf has a spiny margin. It looks more like the kind of holly leaves used as Christmas decorations than typical aster leaves. The species is so unusual that botanists created a new genus for it. It’s the only species named “Herrickia” in honor of the botanist, John Herrick, of the University of New Mexico. A number of botanists believe that this plant needs to be protected and soon, or it may become extinct.

The United State’s official wildlife service, charged with implementing the endangered species act and enforcing it, determines which species can be placed on the federal protected list, and whether those species are threatened or endangered. The Canadian River spiny asters are currently listed as a possible candidate for the federal endangered list. This is very difficult to establish as very little is known about the plant. We just don’t have substantial biological data. The Nature Conservancy is a private organization dedicated to environmental conservation. They alone make the systems for rare plants. Sometimes they lobby to get rare species put on the official federal list.

The Nature Conservancy considers the Canadian River spiny aster to be “globally vulnerable”, since it has only between 21 and 100 known occurrences – that’s in the whole world. They consider it to be “critically imperiled” within the state of Colorado, where there are only five or fewer known occurrences. There are only four isolated populations known in Colorado. That’s pretty risky distribution.

So why is this plant so rare? No one knows for sure, but several hypotheses have been suggested that the plants are often found around cliffs or the base of cliffs where they can receive some extra water because water drips off the stone. There’s a growing amount of evidence that the climate in this area has been getting warmer and drier. Maybe these spiny asters are dying out because they are not getting the moisture they need. Some biologists are worried about the green health factor. The warming atmosphere due to burning fossil fuels may push these species to extinction.

One popular hypothesis is that the Herrickia aster is becoming rare because of grazing and trampling by domestic livestock. Starting in the late 1860s, after the Civil War, cattle were observed eating the young plants. In fact, the few plants that are known in Colorado are usually found high up on cliffs in areas that are not accessible to cattle. So it seems that domestic livestock may be the problem or at least one of the problems facing this rare aster. Because so few scientific studies exist, botanists can’t really even ascertain if the Canadian River spiny aster population has actually declined.

One hypothesis suggests that it’s a newly evolved species and the population is expanding not declining. Someone said that’s true. But that’s not true. We may find out too late to save the plant.

The newest threat to the Canadian River spiny aster is the rapid development of the mountainous region where the plant is known to exist. Houses are going up all over. Many large blocks formerly undeveloped have been developed into flats. Small ranches have 35 hectares or fewer. And the land is now crossed with roads. Without official federal standards for threatened or endangered species, nothing can be done to slow down the speed of development that happening in the habitat of this rare plant.

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