Trillium simile

The narrow range of Jeweled Wakerobin makes it especially sensitive to habitat disturbance due to land clearing for residential development. The Smoky Mountain and the southern Blue Ridge Mountains are preferred sites for second homes and vacation homes and portions of the region are rapidly being developed (NatureServe 2019). Habitat degradation caused by rooting feral pigs (Sus domesticus) has been noted within the species’ range (Bratton 1974, Howe and Bratton 1976) and is likely to be a threat to some subpopulations. Other threats to the species include improper forest management practices, invasive plant species, clearing of utility rights-of-way, and damaged caused by vehicles or recreational activities (NatureServe 2019).

As with other Trillium species in eastern North America, the overabundance of White-tailed Deer may present a significant threat to Jeweled Wakerobin (Leege et al. 2010). Loss of natural predators, reduction in hunting pressure, and land use changes causing increased carrying capacity have resulted in an increased White-tailed Deer population across much of eastern North America since the mid-20^th century (Russell et al. 2001). Herbivory of early season growth causes recruitment failure in the current year and often the following year in related Trillium species causing long-term demographic changes and ultimately population declines (Augustine and Frelich 1998). The specific impact of white-tailed deer overabundance on Jeweled Wakerobin is not well understood and warrants further study.

Many of the known occurrences of the species are in protected areas including the Pisgah, Nantahala of North Carolina, the Sumter National Forest in South Carolina, the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia, the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee, and the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Hawk 2017). Additional monitoring of the species is needed to better assess population trends, subpopulation structure, and current abundance of the species (NatureServe 2019). Though much of the species’ habitat occurs in protected areas, additional protections may be warranted in habitats outside these areas. Feral pig eradication would not only improve habitat quality regardless of protection status, but would be likely to positively impact a number of other plant species within the uniquely rich forest ecosystem of the southern Appalachian Mountains (Howe and Bratton 1976).