[MPWG] ARTICLE: Pattern of expenditures for plant conservation under the Endangered Species Act

[Kwong, Olivia]

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From: "De Angelis, Patricia" <patricia_deangelis at fws.gov>
Subject: Pattern of expenditures for plant conservation under the
Endangered Species Act - Negron-Ortiz, 2014 Biol Cons
Forwarding this article by fellow FWS botanist...Hot off the press!

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320714000202

Pattern of expenditures for plant conservation under the Endangered Species
Act
Vivian Negron-Ortiz
Biol Cons (2014) 171:36-43

Abstract

An estimated 31% of the native plant species in the United States are
considered at risk of extinction, and 11% receive protection under the
Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). But with current and projected
threats, many at risk non-listed plant species will need protection under
the ESA. Recovery priority guidelines based on a ranking system exist to
help identify the most cost-effective use of limited resources to recover
listed species. I analyzed how expenditures on listed plants from 2007 to
2011 corresponded to this system, the species' status, and the year first
listed. While the majority of species listed under the ESA are plants, they
received <5% of the funding for species recovery from federal and state
agencies; thus they have the lowest per-species funding. Among plants,
spending per species was greater for threatened than for endangered species
and positively associated with recentness of listing date. Expenditure
allocation was consistent with the ranking system, as higher priority
species received more spending. Recovery progress could be significantly
increased if more resources are allocated according to this system. In
addition, I recommend: avoidance of biases that support specific projects
or a few charismatic species; augmentation of the ESA budget to finance
projects for the species in conflict with development and growth;
cost-benefit analyses of increasing recovery funds for plants (since the
cost estimated to recover a plant species average much less than a
vertebrate species); and a broadened plant conservation message at local,
regional and global scales.
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