Chrysopsis falcata (Asteraceae) is a perennial forb listed by the New Jersey Natural Heritage Program as a state and globally threatened species (S2, G3/G4). C. falcata typically colonizes disturbed open patches of xeric, sandy soil and reproduces by rhizomatous growth and wind dispersed seed. For three years we tested the feasibility of initiating a population of C. falcata at Clayton Sand Mine, Jackson NJ, located in the New Jersey Pinelands. We studied the effects of canopy cover, nutrient and water requirements, transplant techniques and seedling propagation on plant survival, growth and flowering. C. falcata transplants had much higher survival, growth and flowering in open habitats than in partial or high shade. Nutrient additions provided no benefits within the first year, and was detrimental to survival, growth and flowering in the second year. This was likely due to decreased light availability caused by increased aboveground biomass of grass and forbs within the community. Increasing water availability during the exceptionally dry summer of 1995 provided no benefit to survival, growth and flowering. Greenhouse experiments showed that seedlings have very specific, temporally varying, water requirements. We found that naturally occurring seeds germinate and establish during the fall. These seedlings had significantly higher germination and establishment on soils dominated by a cryptogamic crust community, a substrate that is thought to have allelopathic properties. Unknown factors caused yearly variations in survival rates of C. falcata; we noted a fourfold increase in mortally (40%, up from 10%) across all patches during the growing season of 1997. New populations of this early colonizing species may be started in narrowly defined microsuccessional sites.

Key words: Asteraceae, Chrysopsis falcata, pinelands, population dynamics, restoration, threatened species