Dense-flowered lupine (Lupinus densiflorus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 12

Existing Protection or Other Status Designations

Lupinus densiflorus (var. densiflorus) is not covered under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the Endangered Species Act (USA) or the IUCN Red Data Book. NatureServe has designated a G5 T4 rank for L. densiflorusvar. densiflorus. The G5 indicates that the species is classified as "common to very common; demonstrably secure and essentially ineradicable under present conditions". In California the species is common and abundant, often on disturbed soils (Riggins pers. comm.). The T4 ranking reveals that the variety is "apparently secure, with many occurrences”. This variety rank should be considered with care given the perplexing status of infraspecific elements. In fact, if the plants of Victoria and adjacent islands of Washington state are treated a separate element as many authors propose, the true T-rank might be raised to T2.

The British Columbia Conservation Data Centre (2002) provincial ranking is S1, "critically imperiled, because ofextreme rarity or because of some factor(s) making it especially vulnerable to extinction”. Lupinus densiflorus is currently on the B.C. Conservation Data Centre Red List, which includes any indigenous species or subspecies (taxa) considered to be Extirpated, Endangered, or Threatened in British Columbia.

Lupinus densiflorus is not legally protected by provincial or federal legislation or by site management plans for areas where it occurs. The Macaulay Point and Trial Island populations will beeligible for protection by federal agencies (Department of National Defence and Canada Coast Guard, respectively, under the new Species at Risk Act (SARA) if the species is officially listed as threatened or endangered.

British Columbia does not protect endangered species through legislation. A portion of population two is afforded protection from development simply because it occurs within a municipal park. In fact, the entire population two is seriously threatened by recreation activities and some of the population is also threatened by facility development.

Page details

Date modified: