Status and ecology of Agalinis Kingsii (Scrophulariaceae), a rare endemic to the Cayman Islands (Caribbean Sea)

Agalinis kingsii (Scrophulariaccae) is a rare Grand Cayman species that is poorly known taxonomically and ecologically. Sampling in 1999 suggested that approximately 43,000 individuals occurred within a single 500,000 m(2) sedge wetland habitat in the Salina Reserve and that approximately 500 plants occurred in a 9 m(2) location in the Central Mangrove Wetland. For every tenth individual located during the population count in the Salina Reserve, vegetation community associations, environmental parameters, and individual morphology were noted. Based on the findings, we suggest that rarity is a consequence of habitat availability. Since both populations were found within a narrow geographic and ecological range, we conclude that this species may be sensitive to extinction via a stochastic event.