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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 149 / Friday, August 6, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
Habitat
rooted or unrooted crowns, which eventually separate to leave daughter plants. Because of this stoloniferous growth form, individual plants can be difficult to distinguish. The Running Buffalo Clover Recovery Plan defines an individual plant as a rooted crown Service 2007, p. 1. Rooted crowns may occur alone or be connected to other rooted crowns by runners.
Flowering typically occurs between mid-May and June. However, plants at higher elevations in the mountains of West Virginia may bloom as late as midJuly WVDNR 2019, in litt.. Flowers are visited by a variety of bee species Apis spp. and Bombus spp. and are crosspollinated under field conditions Taylor et al. 1994, p. 1,099. Running buffalo clover is also self-compatible capable of pollinating itself; however, it requires a pollinator to transfer the pollen from the anthers to the stigma Franklin 1998, p. 29. Although it may set fewer seeds by self-pollination than by outcrossing, the selfed seed set may be adequate to maintain the species in the wild Taylor et al. 1994, p. 1,097.
Selfed seeds have been shown to germinate well and develop into vigorous plants Franklin 1998, p. 39.
Seeds typically germinate during early spring mid-March to early April when temperatures are between 15 and 20 degrees Celsius C 5968 degrees Fahrenheit F during the day and 5 to 10 C 4150 F at night. Spring temperature fluctuations appear to be a major dormancy breaker in natural populations of running buffalo clover Baskin 2004.
Scarification may aid in seed germination and seed dispersal.
Scarification of seeds by the digestive system of herbivores, historically believed to be bison, deer, elk, or small herbivores such as rabbits or groundhogs, was likely an important process in natural populations Thurman 1988, p. 4; Cusick 1989, pp.
475476. Although deer are viable vectors for running buffalo clover seeds, the survival and germination rates of ingested seeds are low Ford et al. 2003, pp. 426427. Dispersal and establishment of new populations of running buffalo clover by white-tailed deer herbivory may not be significant Ford et al. 2003, pp. 426427. It appears that scarification accelerates the germination process, whereas natural germination may occur over time if the right temperature fluctuations occur Service 2007, p. 9.

Running buffalo clover typically occurs in mesic moist habitats with partial to filtered sunlight and a prolonged pattern of moderate, periodic disturbance, such as grazing, mowing, trampling, selective logging, or floodscouring. Populations have been reported from a variety of habitats, including mesic woodlands, savannahs, floodplains, stream banks, sandbars especially where old trails cross or parallel intermittent streams, grazed woodlots, mowed paths e.g., in cemeteries, parks, and lawns, old logging roads, jeep trails, all-terrain vehicle trails, skid trails, mowed wildlife openings within mature forest, and steep ravines. Running buffalo clover occurs in a wide range of soil types, with calcium often the dominant base in the soil Hattenbach 1996, p. 53.
Running buffalo clover is often found in regions with limestone or other calcareous bedrock underlying the site, although limestone soil is not a requisite determining factor for the locations of populations of this species. For example, new populations of running buffalo clover have been discovered in West Virginia in areas with soil derived from new geological units WVDNR
2019, in litt..
Sites that have not been disturbed within the last 20 years are unlikely to support running buffalo clover Burkhart 2013, p. 158 because the species relies on periodic disturbances to set back succession and open the tree canopy to create and maintain the partial to filtered sunlight it requires.
These disturbances can be natural for example, tree falls and flood scouring or anthropogenic such as grazing, mowing, trampling, low-intensity disturbance from counting and monitoring, or selective logging in origin. Although tree harvest disturbances that reduce canopy cover may cause a temporary decline in running buffalo clover, populations usually increase 2 years later Madarish and Schuler 2002, p. 127 and reach their highest density 14 years after disturbance Burkhart 2013, p. 159.
However, a complete loss of forest canopy can be detrimental to running buffalo clover by allowing in too much sunlight and altering the microclimate.

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Biology Substantial variability in the growth and development of running buffalo clover has been documented, but the plant structure usually includes rooted crowns rosettes that are rooted into the ground and stolons above-ground creeping stems that connect several
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Genetics Running buffalo clover has relatively low levels of diversity and low levels of gene flow between populations, even
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between those separated by short distances Hickey and Vincent 1992, p.
15. Much of the genetic diversity observed in running buffalo clover occurs across different populations, and small populations of running buffalo clover contribute as much to the total species genetic diversity as large populations Crawford et al. 1998, p.
88.
Recovery Criteria Section 4f of the Act directs us to develop and implement recovery plans for the conservation and survival of endangered and threatened species unless we determine that such a plan will not promote the conservation of the species. Recovery plans must, to the maximum extent practicable, include objective, measurable criteria which, when met, would result in a determination, in accordance with the provisions of this section section 4 of the Act, that the species be removed from the list.
Recovery plans provide a roadmap for us and our partners on methods of enhancing conservation and minimizing threats to listed species, as well as measurable criteria against which to evaluate progress towards recovery and assess the species likely future condition. However, they are not regulatory documents and do not substitute for the determinations and promulgation of regulations required under section 4a1 of the Act. A
decision to revise the status of a species, or to delist a species, is ultimately based on an analysis of the best scientific and commercial data available to determine whether a species is no longer an endangered species or a threatened species, regardless of whether that information differs from the recovery plan.
There are many paths to accomplishing recovery of a species, and recovery may be achieved without all of the criteria in a recovery plan being fully met. For example, one or more criteria may be exceeded while other criteria may not yet be accomplished. In that instance, we may determine that the threats are minimized sufficiently and the species is robust enough to delist. In other cases, recovery opportunities may be discovered that were not known when the recovery plan was finalized. These opportunities may be used instead of methods identified in the recovery plan.
Likewise, information on the species may be learned that was not known at the time the recovery plan was finalized. The new information may change the extent to which existing criteria are appropriate for recognizing
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