Every few weeks from April through August Rosebelle Ines and a team of conservation-minded volunteers trek into Buttermilk State Park in Ithica, New York. They are looking to see if the small plots of native bloodroot and Canadian wild ginger that they planted are taking root. 

While the tree canopies in New York’s forests are flourishing, these small native plants that make up the forest floor that are the backbone of its biodiversity, are struggling. 

As a PhD candidate at Binghamton University, Ines initiated this wildflower restoration project in 2024 as part of her dissertation work. The goal is to restore the smallest forest floor stakeholders that have the biggest biodiversity impact. If successful, this pilot research could provide an important environmental roadmap for how to restore understory plants in other forests.

Now that the plants are in the ground, the tedious tasks of monitoring and recording every element associated with their survival and growth is underway. 

“This entails measuring plant fitness, including plant survival, plant height, catastrophic herbivory, and flower and seed production. At the site, we also ran trials with mature seeds from the plants to assess seed dispersal by (Aphaenogaster sp.) ants that may facilitate plant population growth, and seed damage by invasive slugs (Arion sp.) that we have found to negatively impact seed dispersal by ants,” said Ines.

Without this level of intervention, Ines knows that the environmental stakes are high, not just for Buttermilk Falls State Park where this research is taking place but for other North American forests too. The goal of this research is to see if replenishing the native plants of the forest floor can reverse what climate conditions and land development have depleted.

Binghamton University Associate Professor Kirsten Prior shows volunteers how to plant a bloodroot in plots. (Photo credit: Carlin Shew).

The Literal Roots of Forest Biodiversity

The native plants and wildflowers that most people appreciate as décor on the forest floor play a bigger role in forest diversity than most people give them credit for.

“Understory plants provide essential ecosystem functions and services (i.e., roles in ecosystems that benefit other components of ecosystems and humans). For example, understory plants are the most diverse flora in forests, provide habitat and resources for organisms in other trophic levels, contribute to healthy nutrient cycling and water regulation, and provide recreational opportunities, as many understory plants are wildflowers with spectacular blooms,” said Kirsten Prior, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences Department, Binghamton University. 

Prior, an ecologist and environmental scientist, points to multiple pressures that threaten the understory plant communities in forests in the eastern part of North America, starting with the human-driven element of agriculture, forestry and development. 

“As agriculture shifted west, many forests have recovered, with the majority of contemporary forests in the east being secondary or regenerated forests. While many components of forests have recovered well, such as the canopy layer, other components are slow to recover or have not recovered, including understory plants,” said Prior. 

Understory wildflowers are also affected by invasive species, overabundance of deer, and climate change. 

A bloodroot seed pod with about 30 seeds. (Photo credit: Rosebelle Ines)

And then there is the impact of seed dispersal from ants that have a mutualistic relationship with forest floor plants. When those plant communities are gone, so too are the ways of dispersing their seeds.

“These mutualistic plants are called ‘myrmecochores’ – their seeds have an adaptation to attract ants as seed dispersers. The seeds have a fleshy lipid-rich ‘elaiosome’ that ants on the forest floor are attracted to. They pick up the seed, bring the seed to their nest, remove the elaiosome, and feed it to their growing brood (baby ants) and then deposit the intact seed in a waste pile inside or just outside of their nest (which is usually a rotting log),” said Prior.

There are 11,000 species of myrmecochores around the world with eastern North American forests being a hotspot for them. Myrmecochores make up about 30-40% of the understory wildflowers in these forests with woodland ants being the main seed disperser.

Understory plants have not recovered from previous land use change because seed dispersal by ants can only occur over short distances as opposed to seeds that are dispersed by birds. 

“Ants can’t disperse seeds from one forest fragment to another. So, if myrmecochores were wiped out from a forest patch due to tillage practices, and the forest recovered after the farm was moved or abandoned, many plants are dispersed over long distances (trees, shrubs, some understory plants) and the only way myrmecochores may come back is if people plant them,” said Prior.

Wildflowers including Canadian wild ginger and bloodroot are two species of myrmecochores that grow in many eastern North American forests. Other plants include trilliums, violets, trout lilies, spring beauty, twinleaf, and hepatica. Without these plants, forests have lower biodiversity, and other organisms that rely on them are affected including pollinators, other insect herbivores, birds, and rodents. A loss of understory can also affect the rate at which water and nutrients move through and are stored in ecosystems. 

Besides the biodiversity impacts, these plants have recreational and cultural significance.

“Bloodroot and Canadian wild ginger are culturally important to Indigenous communities, who have traditionally used them for medicine,” said Ines.

Recognizing the need for human intervention to give these plants a chance at survival, Prior established a program through her Prior Ecology Lab at Binghamton University. This project, called Building Sustainable Forest Ecosystems and Conservation Partnerships: Restoration of native forest wildflowers at Binghamton University and New York State Parks, brings together a team of partners who are invested in reestablishing sustainable forest ecosystems.

Staff and interns from New York State Park’s FORCES program set up research plots at Buttermilk Falls State Park. (Photo credit: Carlin Shew)

Work in the Field at Buttermilk Falls State Park 

The Prior Ecology Lab is ground zero for the project collaboration between Prior, Rosebelle Ines, New York State Office of Parks, Research Assistant Professor Dr. Christina Baer and volunteers consisting of students and park biologists. 

Ines oversees the program and coordinates with state stakeholders who assist with permits, management plans, coordination of site visits, field work, and outreach activities. 

For Ines, this project is driven in part by passion but also a sense of environmental responsibility. 

“Many years ago, I realized my desire to conserve natural areas for future generations,” said Ines. “This effort has allowed me to apply what I’ve learned and know as well as dive deeper into the different methodologies used towards protecting and restoring ecosystems. Ultimately, this effort aligns well with my long-term goal of becoming an applied ecologist to help organisms and ecosystems become more resilient to calamities and to better contribute to the conservation of remaining biological resources,” said Ines. 

Prior lab members setting up plots for bloodroot in Buttermilk Falls State Park. (Photo credit: Carlin Shew)

Buttermilk Falls State Park was selected as the pilot location for the research project because it offered the greatest opportunity for transplanting native species. It was important to select plants that augment native plant populations, rather than introduce plants into the forests that were not already there which is why the species of myrmecochores selected for the project were bloodroot and Canadian wild ginger. 

“We chose these two species based on several criteria,” said Prior. “They are hardy in that they have large rhizomatous roots, which can spread underground horizontally to produce new shoots and roots. They have also occurred at the sites we have chosen for restoration, or still occur there, but at low numbers. This was important, as we wanted to make sure the site conditions would be suitable.” 

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is a perennial in the poppy family that requires shade. These plants produce large white blooms in May, and they are ephemeral, so they go dormant in the summer. 

Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense) is an herbaceous, shade-loving perennial plant. It has red or maroon flowers at the base that bloom in June and produces seeds in July. 

Project teams evaluated the forest to select specific sites for plots that offered new plants the best potential to thrive. They established 10 plots with a total of 80 plants that are now in the monitoring phase. In this stage researchers want to discover the elements that lead to successful restoration so they study factors like soil conditions, the presence of other plants, deer herbivory, invasive species, and how seed-dispersing ants affect restoration. 

Group photo of several Prior Lab members and staff and interns from the NYSP’s FORCES program following successful bloodroot transplanting in June 2024. (Photo credit: Rosebelle Ines)

An Army of Volunteers 

The team from Binghamton University has support from the New York State Office of Parks’ Friends of Recreation, Conservation and Environmental Stewardship (FORCES) program. The FORCES program enables New York State college students to improve park resources while enriching their academic, recreational and career opportunities. 

FORCES Stewards serve a 15-week placement in the spring, summer and fall semesters working across the parks in the Finger Lakes Region on a variety of environmental stewardship projects. The Buttermilk Falls project is just one of several underway. At Buttermilk Falls State Park the FORCES Stewards volunteers are integral to the hands-on field work and site selection process.

“Buttermilk Falls State Park, specifically the upper Lake Treman Loop Trail, was highlighted as a great spot for bloodroot populations to be augmented, since the species already grew there. Existing deer enclosures and other research projects nearby to this site also made the selection an easier decision, as it was similar to Prior Lab’s ongoing restoration project at Binghamton University,” said Carlin Shew, FORCES Program Specialist, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

This collaboration enables FORCES to tap into the university’s environmental projects and research to increase awareness of, and engagement with environmental stewardship within New York State parks.

“By collaborating on this long-term research project, we create a mutually beneficial connection,” said Shew. “FORCES Stewards gain hands-on experience with unique projects, more students learn about the FORCES program, and our research partners are provided much appreciated assistance with their field work.”

Volunteer teams planting and monitoring blue root plants at Buttermilk Falls State Park. (Photo credit: Carlin Shew)

In addition to FORCES volunteers, Binghamton University holds volunteer days to engage other students and interns in the planting and monitoring efforts.

Together, all the collaborators benefit and amplify the importance of their work through community outreach and public education.“It is also important to educate and engage a wider audience about biodiversity in eastern deciduous forests, and the relatively specialized interaction with ants that underlies the persistence of several native wildflowers, and how vulnerable this interaction is to changes influenced by people,” said Ines. 

Binghamton graduate and undergraduate students even created a children’s book called Phoebe’s First Forage. The book highlights native wildflowers and the seed-dispersing ants in New York forests and includes educational materials for classrooms.

In the end, the biggest beneficiary of these combined resources is the forest system.

A bloodroot plant’s flower yet to open in one of the plots. (Photo credit: Rosebelle Ines)

Paying It Forward

The wildflower transplant project is ongoing, but so far there are signs of progress.

“The success of our team’s work includes successful restoration, and so far, it’s going well! Our plants are thriving, except when they are eaten by deer! We are also seeing new seedlings pop up near the adult plants we planted, as well as away from them, presumably where an ant deposited a seed,” said Prior.

Plans are in the works to expand the program to other areas, including Chenango Valley State Park. It will include an educational component, with signage at the restoration sites to explain the importance of biodiversity.

Though the research teams are only focused on the task at hand, they know that by pooling so many resources for a common goal, they are inspiring a new generation of biologists and conservationists. “For students at academic institutions that are interested in conservation work, having them involved in ‘translational’ or real-world projects provides them with valuable skills and training in working with and communicating with land managers and landowners to design research projects that reach land managers and owners’ goals,” said Prior. “Environmental change is increasing with significant impacts on ecosystems, biodiversity, and important ecosystem services that humans rely on – and we need to train future conservation scientists and managers to continue important work on mitigating impacts and restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services.”  

Rosebelle Ines checks bloodroot plant survival and flowering in early Spring 2025 at site near Buttermilk Falls State Park. (Photo credit: Rosebelle Ines) 

As for Ines, she will eventually publish this work and the team’s findings. In the meantime, every new growth she records is proof that these efforts are paying off one plant at a time. 

“It is always surreal to see native plants in natural spaces, so I feel a sense of relief. Once the plants are in the plots, I can only hope that we’ve taken the right steps and made the right choices that will increase their likelihood of survival and establishment at the site,” said Ines.

This effort involving dozens of volunteers investing years to plant, care for and monitor the 80 plants in Buttermilk Falls State Park is a testament to the importance of their tiny existence and a lens into a community that cares about their survival and impact.

Like the symbiotic relationship between the ants and myrmecochores species in the forests, this research project has a mutual reward that is both symbiotic and symbolic for nature and for the human element working to restore what’s been lost.