PHOENIX – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved a recovery plan for the Gierisch mallow, an endangered plant found in Mohave County, Arizona, and Washington County, Utah. This recovery plan serves as a roadmap for the conservation of the species and establishes criteria for delisting the species that was originally listed in 2013 as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Found in northern Arizona and adjacent southern Utah, the Gierisch mallow grows predominantly on gypsum outcrops. The plant can thrive in soils inhospitable to many other plants, although it has been found on other soil types. The perennial plant dies back each winter, and dark red-purple stems re-sprout from its woody base in the spring. Its stems range in size from about half a foot to nearly 3.5 feet tall, and multiple bright orange flowers bloom along its flowering stalks.
Its small population size and restricted range contribute to the Gierisch mallow’s susceptibility to extinction. The primary threat at the time of listing was habitat destruction from mining. Other potential threats include activities such as livestock grazing, recreational use, climate change climate change
Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns. Though there have been previous periods of climatic change, since the mid-20th century humans have had an unprecedented impact on Earth's climate system and caused change on a global scale.
Learn more about climate change , and the expansion of nonnative grasses.
The overall recovery strategy for the Gierisch mallow includes maintaining multiple, self-sustaining populations across its known range, decreasing threats to the species and continuing habitat restoration efforts in disturbed areas.
Recovery plans are not regulatory. Rather, they provide a framework for guiding a species’ recovery, objective and measurable criteria that we expect will indicate when federal protection is no longer necessary, and actions needed to recover the species.
The final recovery plan is available at ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/8873 and fws.gov/media/gierisch-mallow-final-recovery-plan-2024.
To obtain a copy by mail, send a request to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Ecological Services Field Office, 9828 North 31st Avenue, Suite C3, Phoenix, AZ 85051 or by phone 602-242-0210.
