Townsendia rothrockii

Townsendia rothrockii is endemic to central and southwestern Colorado, USA. It is known from approximately about 60 occurrences, several are protected, and most are on USFS lands. Current threats are poorly documented but thought to be minimal, and include motorized and non-motorized recreation and the potential effects of climate change.

Townsendia rothrockii is endemic to central and southwestern Colorado (USA) where it is known from thirteen counties. Estimated range extent in Colorado of 33,495 square kilometers was calculated in GeoCAT using occurrence data provided by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (2023). New Mexico reports are apparently false (Beatty et al. 2004).

As of 2023 there are 59 known occurrences documented in the Colorado Natural Heritage Program database. At least 15 of the occurrences have not been observed in over 20 years and many are of unknown viability. The USFS Conservation Assessment documents 35 occurrences (Beatty et al. 2004).

Motorized recreation was once thought to be the primary threat to the species (Rondeau et al. 2011) and remains a concern, however, additional threats have been reported since 2011 and include non-motorized recreation, road maintenance and the related erosion and sedimentation, browsing by mountain goats, livestock grazing activities, and competition from exotic species. Overall, these impacts have only been noted less at than 22% of the occurrences with 8% reporting no threats or management concerns, and the remaining 79% of occurrences having no information on threats. Nonetheless, hiking appears to be increasing within the species habitat, although the impacts are reported to be minimal. Competition from invasive plant species such as Bromus inermis, Bromus tectorum, Melilotus officinalis is now noted at several occurrences. Range wide the effects small-scale mining and of long-term drought remain a concern. Beatty et al. 2004 list the following possible human-related threats to T. rothrockii : succession, environmental fluctuations, herbivory, genetic isolation, inadequate pollination, global climate changes, and changes to the natural disturbance regime. This species is considered to have moderate adaptive capacity and is expected to be slightlyvulnerable to climate change under both RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios, as assessed for the 2025 Colorado State Wildlife Action Plan (CNHP 2025).