Project Proposal: The Peony as a flagship for rare plant conservation in the Mediterranean Bioregion

At the meeting of continents and plant migration pathways over millennia, the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot is most notable for its richness of flora. It has 22,500 endemic vascular plant species alone (more than four times than in the rest of Europe) and many other beautiful plants are notable for their rarity or on the verge of catastrophic decline and loss. No more emblematic of the beauty and plight of Mediterranean plants are the Peonies.

The case of the Peonies

The genus Paeonia comprises 33 temperate species from Eurasia and Western North America, including ten European species. Its main centres of distribution are the northern Mediterranean rim, Caucasus and China. There are many herbaceous garden forms which have been cultivated since 900 BC.

Their ornamental flowers and relative rarity make them a favourite of botanists and gardeners alike, and provide potential for involving a wider community of people in plant conservation. Some of the Mediterranean herbaceous species are associated with semi-wooded habitats such as scrubland and woodland edge, habitats which are threatened by wide scale abandonment of traditional forms of woodland management and subsequent loss of semi-wooded niches. Building on research already commenced by A Rocha Bulgaria and Portugal, a joint research and conservation initiative spanning the northern Mediterranean rim is to be initiated to conserve members of this important plant genus and raise awareness and activity more generally in rare plant conservation.

Objectives

As part of A Rocha’s trans-Mediterranean mission it is launching a collaborative research and conservation effort focusing on Peonies, with the aims of:

Monitoring local population dynamics of peony species in four countries.
Investigating how their reproductive capability is affected by competition, canopy cover and other habitat variables in order to identify optimal habitat conditions.
Understanding local land use trends affecting the availability of optimal Peony habitat.
Carrying out experimental habitat management based on the results of the above.
Publicising the project with local and regional audiences, using the peonies as flagship species to sensitise the public on plant conservation issues associated with change in land use across the Mediterranean.

The project

Two populations of Peonies are already under study by A Rocha teams. These are Red Peony Paeonia peregrina in Bulgaria and Western Iberian Peony Paeonia broteroi in Portugal. The Red Peony is one of three members of the genus present in Bulgaria, and is being investigated in the Koniavska Mountains, a range reaching 1487m to the south-west of Sofia, at the northern border of the sub-Mediterranean climatic region. Here, it is threatened not just by land use change but also collection of plants (especially roots) for their medicinal properties. The Western Iberian Peony, meanwhile, is an Iberian endemic occurring in the Serra de Monchique mountain range (902m) of the Algarve, Portugal. It is often seen on roadsides at the edge of woodland, and reaches especially high densities in sweet chestnut coppiced woodland. Further study sites and species, Paeonia officinalis and Paeonia kesrouanensis, have been identified in France and Lebanon respectively, to form a network reaching from the western to eastern ends of this centre of peony distribution.

In each case the population dynamics (make-up of adult and juvenile plants) and flowering and fruiting success will be studied along transects through sample areas in relation to habitat parameters such as light incidence, litter and vegetation cover. The degree to which the plants are being affected by current trends in forest closure will be assessed to inform any required strategy of habitat intervention that ensures their favourable conservation status into the future. Methodologies and data analysis will be standardised across sites. Based on the results and preliminary conclusions drawn from the first years, more detailed hypotheses for further research will be defined. Experimental habitat management (for example clearing of woodland gaps), followed by monitoring of its effects on the peony populations will be considered. At all stages, opportunities will be sought to involve members of the public in this initiative. Materials will be developed using the peonies as flagship species to promote the conservation of habitat mosaics, woodland edge habitats and their rare plants. Scientific papers will be published to contribute to the body of knowledge on Mediterranean plant species ecology and enhance the potential positive application of the results towards plant conservation.