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Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies
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Western Prairie Fringed Orchid Management, Ecology, And Decline At Mormon Island, Andrew J. Caven
Western Prairie Fringed Orchid Management, Ecology, And Decline At Mormon Island, Andrew J. Caven
Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies
The western prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara Sheviak & M. L. Bowles; WPFO) was first detected in a vegetative state on Mormon Island in 1978 and identification was confirmed following a mass flowering event in 1982. From a high count of ~60 plants the WPFO slowly declined and has not been observed since 2000 despite flowering season surveys conducted in 15 of the last 20 years. We explore the natural history of the WPFO in the contexts of Mormon Island to establish potential causes for its apparent disappearance and evaluate the possibility it persists in some capacity. Our investigation …