Rank MethodLegacy Rank calculation - Excel v3.1x
Review Date2012-11-30
Change Date2012-11-30
Edition Date2013-04-29
Edition AuthorsOliver, L.
Threat ImpactVery high - high
Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Rank ReasonsGoldenseal, Hydrastis canadensis, an herbaceous understory species of the eastern deciduous forest, with the core of its range in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia (Sinclair and Catling 2000a). It extends north into Ontario, Canada and as far south in the United States to Alabama, east to North Carolina and north to Vermont.
Goldenseal may be best known for its use as an herbal supplement for a variety of health purposes, including as an immune booster and anti-inflammatory agent. Its earliest known use was by indigenous people in the eastern North America and by the 1700s it was used as a digestion aid and treatment for skin imflammation (Barton 1798). Its use is well documented from the 1800s to the present, with increasing demand through time as markets expanded beyond local usage. The species has been primarily wild-harvested, and over-collection of the plant is a predominate threat.
Concern due to over-collection is expressed at the national levels both in the United States and Canada. Since 1997, goldenseal has been listed in Appendix II of the Convention for International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to regulate international trade to ensure there is no detriment to the survival of the species in the wild. The CITES Appendix II listing requires that exporters obtain CITES permits or certificates for international export of whole, parts and powdered roots and rhizomes of goldenseal. In Canada, goldenseal is listed as Threatened on Schedule I of the federal Species at Risk Act.
Long-term decline since the beginning of its harvest history is evident, and short term trends are more localized, from declining to stable. State conservation statuses range from vulnerable to critically imperiled in the periphery of the range, to uncommon and secure in the core of its range. As of 2013, the species is state-listed as endangered, vulnerable or threatened in at least ten states. Seven of the states within goldenseal's range do not have State plant endangered species lists or protection laws.
Goldenseal, from a rangewide perspective and in a classical perspective of distribution and abundance is currently uncommon to secure, however, from a more holistic conservation perspective the extent of threats, long-term trends and short-term trends demand continuous and close monitoring in both the United States and Canada.
Range Extent CommentsRange extent was calculated based on a map in Sinclair and Catling (2000a). Range extent is closer to 1,250,000 sq km.
Eastern United States, northward into Ontario: southern Vermont to Ontario, west to Minnesota and south to Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas. Common in Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and West Virginia; uncommon around the range perimeter. The central portion of its range is and was where goldenseal was the most abundant, including Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia (Sinclair and Catling 2000a). Christensen and Gorchov (2010) describe the core part of the historical range as the Ohio River Valley.
Threat Impact CommentsHydrastis canadensis, Goldenseal, a medicinal herb, is threatened primarily by removal of habitat, decline in habitat quality, wild-collection and deer browsing.
Habitat destruction is a primary threat throughout its range, as reported by Sinclair and Catling (2000a) only 5% of forested habitat that supports goldenseal in Canada remains, in many personal communications with Natural Heritage Botanists in 2012 and throughout New England (Tait 2006). It is surmised that local extinctions in Ohio were the result of urban sprawl (Mulligan and Gorchov 2004). The interaction and compounding intensification of over-collection and habitat loss, should not be overlooked. Albrecht and McCarthy (2006) suggest that observations by botanists of population disappearance in the early 19th century documented this co-occurrence of threats. It is also suggested that the combination of these two threats may reduce or reverse positive efforts of stewardship, or 'managed' populations (Albrecht and McCarthy 2006). It should also be recognized that the combined interaction of these threats may be increasing the rate of decline in areas of its range where these two threats are actively occurring.
Goldenseal has been cultivated for 100+ years throughout its range and historically most of the trade domestically and internationally comes from wild harvested plants (Christensen and Gorchov 2010). In recent years there has been an apparent shift. The CITES Trade Database (200-2013) indicates that much of the material in international trade, and all in 2003, which is legal is from cultivated plants. The market for goldenseal is expected to grow at a rate of 5% to 10% annually, and the market for high quality cultivated material is expected to grow 10 to 15% annually (Greenfield and David 2012).
Cultivated goldenseal makes p a large portion of domestic trade according to the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), however, the amount of wild-harvested rhizome that is collected and traded in the United States is unknown. In Indiana, collection pressure has intensified dramatically over the last 10 years, based on the number of inquiries by herbal diggers in the state (pers. comm. Indiana Department of Natural Resources). Along with the increased demand for goldenseal in Indiana, according to State officials, it is evident that herbal diggers that are harvesting wild goldenseal in July and August are also harvesting American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) outside the legal harvest season that has not yet had a chance to reproduce (pers. comm. Indiana Department of Natural Resources). Law enforcement officials in Indiana are concerned for the species due to the amount being shipped from the state, and while there are no quantitative data on population declines in Indiana (pers. comm. Indiana Department of Natural Resources), declines seem likely. Collection pressure in parts of the species' range where unemployment is high is incentivized by prices paid for wild-collected roots/rhizomes in the herbal market (McGraw et al. 2003). Studies suggest that if as little as 10% of the plants from a population are removed by collected annually, that the population will go extinct over time (Mulligan and Gorchov 2004).
Invasive species is also a threat, including pressure from both non-native plants. White-tailed deer browse is also a threat in Ohio (Mulligan and Gorchov 2004) and in other parts of the range.
Further threats as noted by state Natural Heritage Botanists:
Alabama: Incompatible forestry practices appear to be the foremost concern, with invasive species of secondary importance (Al Schotz, pers. comm., 2012).
Arkansas: Unknown (Theo Witsell, pers. comm., 2012).
Connecticut: Invasive species and canopy closure. Severity of the threats is unknown (Nelson DeBarros & Nancy Murray, pers. comm., 2012).
Delaware: Invasive species and deer browse (William A. McAvoy, pers. comm., 2012).
Indiana: Not known, but collecting and habitat destruction likely (Michael Homoya, pers. comm., 2012).
Kansas: Unknown (Craig C. Freeman, pers. comm., 2012).
Kentucky: The current threats are land conversion/development, collection, and high deer populations (Deborah White, pers. comm., 2012).
Massachusetts: This plant has never been common in Massachusetts, populations are very small and threatened by herbivory (Bryan Connolly, pers. comm., 2012)
Michigan: Collecting and habitat destruction (M.R. Penskar et al. 2001).
Minnesota: Invasive species (such as garlic mustard and buckthorn) continue to be discovered in the greater area of goldenseal's range in Minnesota. This will likely be a rising threat to populations in the long-term (Derek Anderson, Welby Smith, & Nancy Sather, pers. comm., 2012).
Missouri: Current threats are over harvesting, particularly on public land. (Malissa Underwood, pers. comm., 2012).
Mississippi: In the Loess Bluff Physiographic Province, rapid subdivision development is encroaching into the habitat of goldenseal. One population has already probably been extirpated by a "Loess Bluff Restoration Project" associated with a housing development. In the Pontotoc Ridge Physiographic Province, the private land owner is considering developing the land as a new subdivision(Heather Sullivan, pers. comm., 2012).
New York: It is collected for medicinal purposes but so far there is no evidence that it is being over-collected in New York. There is a moderate threat from habitat destruction, especially in the Lower Hudson area. Exotic species like garlic mustard and bush honeysuckle threaten its understory habitat (Steve Young, pers. comm., 2012).
North Carolina: Poaching and effects of climate change (drought, increased temperatures, wind damage, invasive species) (Laura Gadd, pers. comm., 2012).
New York: It is collected for medicinal purposes but so far there is no evidence that it is being over-collected in New York. There is a moderate threat from habitat destruction, especially in the Lower Hudson area. Exotic species like garlic mustard and bush honeysuckle threaten its understory habitat (Steve Young, pers. comm. 2012).
Ohio: Some threats include development, recreation, roads and associated maintenance, resource extraction and processing (timber, oil, renewable energy), agriculture, and non-native species (Rick Gardner, pers. comm., 2012).
Ontario: Possibly lack of disturbance at some sites (Sinclair & Catling 1998) (Michael J. Oldham, pers. comm., 2012).
Pennsylvania: Invasive species, succession (more coming in later report), and gas development (Chris Firestone, pers. comm., 2012.)
Tennessee: Timber operations and ATV trails are the main threats (Todd Crabtree, pers. comm., 2012).
Virginia: Mostly unknown, but harvest and development are likely threats (John Townsend, pers. comm., 2012).
Vermont: Invasives, development, and climate change. (Bob Popp & Aaron Marcus, pers. comm., 2012).
Wisconsin: Forest conversion is likely the largest historical threat. Forest fragmentation and development is likely the largest current threat with invasive plants and earthworm likely causing significant impacts, especially for spread by seed. Leaf herbivory is unknown, but deer populations are high in the known region. Fruit herbivory and seed destruction is also unknown, but turkeys and rodents may be causing destruction of seed or placement in inappropriate habitat. Possible threats by logging, although the level of logging in the southern part of the state where it is found is relatively low, especially in the southeast. Impacts of harvest are unknown. We do not receive any harvest data and reports of sales to ginseng dealers is erratic. It would be fairly simple to survey ginseng dealers and ask them about amounts and trends in goldenseal harvest. Dealers may also have a sense if it is generally being harvested sustainably. (Kevin Doyle, Assistant Botanist & Ryan O'Connor, Assistant Ecologist, Kelly Kearns, pers. comm., 2012).
West Virginia: Wild harvest (P.J. Harmon, pers. comm., 2012).