Protecting biodiversity: Unique Painted Trillium thrive at Morgan Swamp Preserve

The importance of growing this population

Since this plant is only found in this specific area in Ohio—it’s vital to ensure its success at the preserve. 

“There used to be more known populations, but almost all of those have been on private land, and they're presumed lost,” says Cooper.

Growing this population of painted trillium in Ohio is important to combat biodiversity loss in the state.  

“This species is more stable within other areas of the Appalachians. Increasing this population in Ohio is important because even though things are stable in other places, every place where the species disappears from contributes to the greater threat of biodiversity loss,” says Cooper.  

The rarity of Painted Trillium piqued the interest of a University of Akron professor, who joined the survey team this May to better understand why the plant is thriving at the preserve.

Dr. Randy Mitchell, a biology professor at University of Akron, hopes to learn more about the population at Morgan Swamp. 

“I wanted to come see the response TNC has had with their management practices and to scope out the area to better understand opportunities to collaborate with TNC on this, including maybe bringing students. I love working with TNC,” says Mitchell. 

How we survey these plants

Surveying, or counting, these trillium plants has also become a yearly event for Northeast Ohio staff to enjoy every spring. This year, the survey took place in mid-May—right when these plants are in peak bloom. 

“It's a great day for people to unwind and do something different. It's grown beyond the original intent,” says Cooper.

Emily Finch, Crooked River Cooperative Weed Management Area Coordinator for TNC in Ohio, has participated in the survey since 2022 and looks forward to the day each year.  

“Painted Trillium survey day is a highlight of spring for our team. Getting out to see this rare flower in bloom and the expanding population is a great reminder for why we do what we do,” says Finch.

The survey follows the same pattern each year. Below you can find more about the steps our staff take to ensure all plants are accounted for.

Step 1 – Creating the survey zone

The team created the first 100-meter transect to outline the first zone the team surveyed. Later, the team continued to create additional 100-meter transects to more easily survey each smaller zone within the larger area.

Step 2 – Flagging plants within the zone

The team then went out within the zone and used different colors of flags to point out flowering plants versus vegetative plants. Vegetative plants were the ones that were not flowering. Our conservation team needs to know if the plants are flowering versus nonflowering to better understand the viability of the plants.

Step 3 – Counting flags for each zone

After each zone had flags placed, team members went through and collected flags according to their color. Then, the larger team met and counted each set of flags. 

After all the zones were complete, the team totaled all flags to understand the full population of Painted Trillium within the full survey area.