Atriplex tularensis Coville (1893:182)

Bakersfield saltbush, Bakersfield smallscale, Tulare saltbush, Tulare orach

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonyms: Atriplex cordulata var. tularensis (Coville) Jeps. in Fl. Calif. 1: 436 (1914); Obione tularensis (Coville) Ulbr. in H.G.A.Engler, Nat. Pflanzenfam., ed. 2. 16c: 507 (1934)

Conservation Status

Extinct (Rejmánek, 2018; Smith, 2018; Knapp et al., 2020, 2021; Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022)

Last record: 1891 (Knapp et al., 2021); 1934 (Smith, 2018); 1991 [error for 1891?] (Rejmánek, 2018)

Decline

"Besides dramatic reduction of suitable habitats, hybridization with Atriplex serenana Nelson ex Abrams (a native species better adapted to dry conditions) resulted in swamping of the A. tularensis gene pool (Freas & Murphy, 1988, 1991; Rhymer & Simberloff, 1996; R. Tollifson, personal communication, March 1, 2017)."

(Rejmánek, 2018)

De-extinction potential

This species has been identified as one of the 50 best candidates for de-extinction, ranking 49/50 (Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022).

Supposed rediscovery

It was reportedly rediscovered according to (Smith & York, 1984:1) after the publication of the second edition of that volume (i.e. Smith et al., 1980). But apart from the likely typo "1991" (Rejmánek, 2018) for an 1891 record of the species (Knapp et al., 2021), the only recent inventory of extinct/missing Californian plants to report the species as rediscovered is (Humphreys et al., 2019). However, the latter cites Calflora as their source, and today CalFlora treats the taxon as Category 1A (presumed extinct) (Calflora, 2024). It is unclear why the species has been intermittently reported as rediscovered, when all other sources appear to be consistent in supposing the taxon to be extinct (Smith, 2018; Knapp et al., 2021; Calflora, 2024; POWO, 2024), having been last recorded in the very late 19th or late early 20th centuries (Smith, 2018; Knapp et al., 2021).

Distribution

California, USA

Biology & Ecology

Hypodigm

Media

References

Albani Rocchetti, Giulia, Carta, Angelino, Mondoni, Andrea, Godefroid, Sandrine, Davis, Charles C., Caneva, Giulia, Albrecht, Matthew A., Alvarado, Karla, Bijmoer, Roxali, Borosova, Renata, Bräuchler, Christian, Breman, Elinor, Briggs, Marie, Buord, Stephane, Cave, Lynette H., Da Silva, Nílber Gonçalves, Davey, Alexandra H., Davies, Rachael M., Dickie, John B., Fabillo, Melodina, Fleischmann, Andreas, Franks, Andrew, Hall, Geoffrey, Kantvilas, Gintaras, Klak, Cornelia, Liu, Udayangani, Medina, Leopoldo, Reinhammar, Lars Gunnar, Sebola, Ramagwai J., Schönberger, Ines, Sweeney, Patrick, Voglmayr, Hermann, White, Adam, Wieringa, Jan J., Zippel, Elke Zippel and Abeli, Thomas. (2022). Selecting the best candidates for resurrecting extinct-in-the-wild plants from herbaria. Nature Plants 8: 1385-1393. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01296-7 [Supplementary Tables S1-S6]

Calflora: Information on California plants for education, research and conservation, with data contributed by public and private institutions and individuals. [web application]. (2024). Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database [a non-profit organization]. Available: https://www.calflora.org/ (Accessed: 05/13/2024).

Christenhusz, M. and Govaerts, R. (2023). Uitgestorven. Op plantenjacht rond de wereld: 1-511. Sterck & De Vreese.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee. (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 4: 1-559. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.

Freas, K. E. and Murphy, D. D. (1988). Taxonomy and the conservation of the critically endangered Bakersfield saltbush. Biological Conservation 46: 317-324.

Freas, K. E. and Murphy, D. D. (1991). The endangered Bakersfield saltbush. Fremontia, 19: 15-18.

Govaerts, R. (1995). World Checklist of Seed Plants 1(1, 2): 1-483, 529. MIM, Deurne.

Humphreys, Aelys M., Govaerts, Rafaël, Ficinski, Sarah Z., Lughadha, Eimear Nic and Vorontsova, Maria S. (2019). Global dataset shows geography and life form predict modern plant extinction and rediscovery. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3: 1043-1047. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0906-2 [Supplementary Dataset 1]

Knapp, Wesley M., Frances, Anne, Noss, Reed, Naczi, Robert F. C., Weakley, Alan, Gann, George D., Baldwin, Bruce G., Miller, James, McIntyre, Patrick, Mishler, Brent D., Moore, Gerry, Olmstead, Richard G., Strong, Anna, Gluesenkamp, Daniel and Kennedy, Kathryn. (2020). Regional records improve data quality in determining plant extinction rates. Nature Ecology & Evolution 4: 512-514. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1146-1

Knapp, Wesley M., Frances, Anne, Noss, Reed, Naczi, Robert F. C., Weakley, Alan, Gann, George D., Baldwin, Bruce G., Miller, James, McIntyre, Patrick, Mishler, Brent D., Moore, Gerry, Olmstead, Richard G., Strong, Anna, Kennedy, Kathryn, Heidel, Bonnie and Gluesenkamp, Daniel. (2021). Vascular plant extinction in the continental United States and Canada. Conservation Biology 35(1): 360-368. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13621 [Supporting Information (Appendix S1)]

Le Roux, Johannes J., Hui, C., Castillo, M. L., Iriondo, J. M., Keet, J.-H., Khapugin, A. A., Médail, F., Rejmánek, M., Theron, G. Yannelli, F. A. and Hirsch, H. (2019). Recent Anthropogenic Plant Extinctions Differ in Biodiversity Hotspots and Coldspots. Current Biology 29(17): 2912-2918.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.063

POWO. (2024). Plants of the World Online (online resource). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/ [Accessed 13 May 2024]

Rejmánek, Marcel. (2018). Vascular plant extinctions in California: A critical assessment. Diversity and Distributions 24(1): 129-136. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12665

Rhymer, J. M. and Simberloff, D. (1996). Extinction by hybridization and introgression. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 27: 83-109.

Smith, James Payne, Jnr. (2018). California vascular plants: are some of them still out there? Botanical Studies 74: 1-4.

Smith, James Payne, Jr., Cole, R. J. and Sawyer, J. O. Jr. (eds.). (1980). Inventory of rare and endangered vascular plants of California. Special Publication No. 1 (2nd edition). Berkeley, California: California Native Plant Society. 115 pp.

Smith, James Payne, Jnr. (ed.) and York, Richard (DEM). (1984). Inventory of rare and endangered vascular plants of California. Special Publication No. 1 (3rd edition). Berkeley, California: California Native Plant Society. xviii + 174 pp.

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