Van brunt’s jacob’s-ladder (Polemonium vanbruntiae) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 8

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Limiting Factors and Threats

Personal observations indicate that the factors that most limit or threaten Polemonium vanbruntiae in Quebec are agriculture and logging.

Agricultural impact is due to mowing, ploughing, drainage and Christmas tree growing, especially in wet and/or riparian meadows. Impacts associated with agriculture have been noted in the Stoke River and Wotton locations, and the Saint-Camille and Mont-Carrier-Sud locations may also be at risk in the near future, because agriculture is already practised nearby.

Logging, through felling and drainage work, has already caused partial elimination of the Saints-Martyrs location. This may happen elsewhere, but actual and future conservation agreements and land purchases could halt this trend.

Road infrastructure work is another threat when the drainage is altered, as has happened at Saint-Adrien. However, only one other population is located near a road, the one in the southern part of the Stoke River location. No dam projects are planned within the extent of occurrence of Van Brunt’s Jacob’s-ladder.

Over the medium term, the construction of cottages or homes could threaten a portion of the Développement-Boisvert-Ouest location. Off-road vehicle trails can also damage Jacob’s-ladder populations, as we have already seen in the northern part of the Développement-Boisvert-Est location.