Draba burkei sp. nov. (Brassicaceae) is a newly discovered species from a narrow geographic range in Northern Utah, USA. The species is known from only a few localities in the Wellsville and Wasatch Mountains. The largest population of this extremely rare, alpine species was compromised in order to make a safe ski run for the 2002 Winter Olympics, Men's Down-hill Event. Concern for the species preservation has elucidated the need for more biological information, as a foundation for development of management plans for this new, rare mustard. Therefore, five long-term monitoring plots were established representing the largest populations of the species and its entire geographic range. One hundred individuals were randomly selected and tagged in each population. Vegetative and reproductive data were collected for tagged individuals at these sites including clump diameter, number of inflorescences per plant, number of flowers per inflorescence, etc. Soil characteristics and associated species were also determined for each monitoring site. For reproductive studies, fruits were collected from tagged individuals, and seed to ovule ratios were calculated. Enzyme electrophoresis was performed to assess genetic diversity within and among populations. Genetic variation at 15 allozyme loci was compared with morphological and reproductive variation within and among populations. Draba burkei exhibited much genetic variation, both within and among populations. All populations showed unique alleles at several of the loci, likely due to their geologic and elevational variation and their large geographic separations. Populations also differed significantly for several vegetative and reproductive traits. These differences once again are likely due to elevation and geographic distribution. Because there is a high degree of genetic differentiation and geographic isolation between populations, they appear to be genetically drifting apart.

Key words: alloyzmes, conservation, demography, diversity, Draba, genetic variability