NEVADA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY
Rare Plant Committee Meeting
NEVADA RARE PLANT WORKSHOP
Wednesday & Thursday, 2-3 April 2008, Reno

2008 PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
http://heritage.nv.gov/nrpw/abstracts08.htm

The following abstracts have been submitted by presenters for the 2008 Nevada Rare Plant Workshop:

Jason Alexander
Oregon State University, Corvallis

The Palantia, a group of taxa in Astragalus Section Diphysi which do not have bladdery inflated pods, consists of A. mokiacensis, A. bryantii, A. iodanthus and A. pseudiodanthus plus the other scarcely inflated varieties of A. lentiginosus: A. lentiginosus var. maricopae, A. lentiginosus var. palans, A. lentiginosus var. ursinus, and A. lentiginosus var. wilsonii. Every major revision has delimited these taxa differently. A principal coordinates analysis of morphological data from herbarium specimens was used to determine the affinities between type specimens and extant populations of these taxa and to determine the degree of morphological similarity among these taxa. For the genetic analysis, highly polymorphic cpDNA microsatellites were selected due to their applicability to both genetic and phylogenetic questions across a wide range of taxonomic levels. Based on the results of the chloroplast haplotype and morphological datasets, the species, A. mokiacensis, A. bryantii, A. iodanthus and A. pseudiodanthus, are recognized as varieties of A. lentiginosus. The taxon recently recognized as A. lentiginosus var. trumbullensis is morphologically similar to the lectotype of Astragalus mokiacensis. Astragalus lentiginosus var. trumbullensis is herein recognized as a low-elevation minor variant and considered a synonym of A. lentiginosus var. mokiacensis.

Steve Caicco
Botanist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office, Reno

About 30 plant taxa in Nevada's Great Basin have earned the coveted distinction of a G1, G1G2, or T1 rank, awarded only to the rarest of the rare. I will review what we know about these plants based on data gleaned from the Nevada Natural Heritage Program and recent information collected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and/or its contractors. These data shed light on how little we know about even the rarest plants. Despite the limitations of the available data, in some cases they are sufficient to allow an admittedly speculative assessment of the potential threat posed by climate change. Implementation of an effective monitoring strategy will be critical if we are to be able to detect change over the coming decades. In addition, an immediate effort toward ex-situ conservation of representative germ plasm of the rarest taxa in seed banks is imperative to preserve our future options for conservation management. I will outline an integrated strategy for seed collection and multistage monitoring.

Forbis, T.A. 2008. Species distribution modeling for rare plants of White River Valley, Nevada.

 Tara A. Forbis
USDA Agricultural Research Service, Reno

White River Valley, in eastern Nevada, is a hotspot for rare plant diversity in the Great Basin. Many of the rare plants occur on Pleistocene springmound soils, which are likely gypsiferous. The Nature Conservancy conducted field sampling to obtain better data on occurrence of rare species during 2005 and 2007. 1942 new localities were mapped for Asclepias eastwoodiana, Cryptantha welshii, Lepidium nanum, Machaeranthera grindelioides var. depressa, Mentzelia tiehmii, and Townsendia jonesii var. tumulosa. These data were used to delineate Areas of Critical Environmental Concern for the rare plants in the new Ely BLM Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement. The data are also being used in ongoing species distribution modeling efforts, which uses species occurrence data along with spatial information (elevation, slope, aspect, and remotely sensed gypsum soils) to predict additional locations for these plant species.

Role and Format of the Nevada Rare Plant Workshop: discussion of future scenarios

Jim Morefield
Nevada Natural Heritage Program, Carson City

The regulations (N.A.C. 527.200) governing the activities of the Nevada Natural Heritage Program (NNHP), in its advisory capacity to the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) and its administration of Nevada's endangered plant law (N.R.S. 527.260-.300), are currently ambiguous and in need of clarification. So too is the role of the Nevada Native Plant Society's (NNPS) Nevada Rare Plant Workshop (NRPW) with respect to NNHP activities. N.A.C. 527.200(1) requires NNHP to "establish and maintain a committee of qualified professionals to conduct scientific research and analysis of native flora" and "maintain data and records related thereto." N.A.C. 527.200(3) requires NNHP to "meet at least once annually, and ... at such further times as deemed necessary by the Program, to review research and data concerning native flora, and to consider ..." issues such as needed additions to or removals from the list of fully protected species, permit applications, and improvements to the State's endangered plant program for recommendation to the State Forester. Heretofore, NNHP had informally adopted the Rare Plant Committee of NNPS for both these functions, but has not formally established the required committee of qualified professionals. Based on recent legal advice, NNHP will no longer pass recommendations of the NRPW directly to the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF) for consideration. Instead, NNHP will formally appoint a committee of 7 qualified professionals to conduct scientific research and analysis of native flora, and to meet at least once annually to review research and data, and consider whether any recommendations are warranted in the subject areas spelled out in N.A.C. 527.200(3). This will be a public meeting at which any and all written and oral scientific comments, research, data, and recommendations will be heard, considered, and will become part of the public record, including any offered by NNPS or the NRPW. Under this scenario, NNHP will be able to continue its current role in helping to organize and facilitate the annual NRPW, as a separate activity of benefit to the State. Questions and comments are solicited!

Monitoring Sensitive Species on the Nevada Test Site

Kent Ostler
NSTec/Nevada Test Site, Las Vegas

There are 20 species of rare plants on the Nevada Test Site that are listed on Nevada Natural Heritage Program’s Animal and Plant At Risk Tracking List. These species are considered sensitive by the National Nuclear Security Administration/Nevada Site Office. These species are protected on the Nevada Test Site and a monitoring program has been implemented to document population sizes, impacts, and locations. The level of monitoring is dependent on several factors including the number of populations that occur in the region and potential threats to the species. Fact sheets containing species locations, collection records, photographs and GIS maps of known populations on the Nevada Test Site have been generated for each species. Species characteristics, habitat preferences, and site locations will be discussed.

Rarity in an alpine endemic mustard: Draba asterophora.

Emily Smith
Brigham Young University:

Draba asterophora (Brassicaceae) is known from ~10-12 populations occupying a narrow range of alpine habitats near Lake Tahoe. These are partitioned into three population clusters located north, southeast, and south of the lake. The southern population cluster has been segregated as variety macrocarpa, whereas the other two clusters have been assigned to variety asterophora. Because this small, matted, perennial occurs at alpine sites, the species faces impending threats to its habitat through ski run expansion and development. Because little information is available for this rare species, it is difficult to ascertain the impact of such ski run development on the long-term survival and persistence of the Tahoe draba. With funding from the USDA Forest Service and local ski resorts, we are conducting morphological, ecological, chromosomal, and genetic studies of D. asterophora (both varieties) to provide a framework upon which future management plans and mitigation can be developed. Preliminary results suggest that there are significant differences between the three population clusters. These include differences in soil composition, soil chemistry, plant density, demographics reproductive success, and genetics. Chromosome counts from the northern populations (Mt. Rose, Nevada) are tetraploid (n=20). Allozyme banding patterns support the hypothesis that these have arisen through autopolyploidy. The southeastern population has shown both diploid and triploid counts. The separate variety in the southern population has shown some distinct allozyme markers at genetic loci analyzed to date, supporting its designation as a separate taxon. Because the species includes more than one ploidy level, it should not be treated as a single panmictic taxon for purposes of conservation. Thus, we recommend that each of the population clusters be managed as distinct entities, pending the completion of our studies.

Doing Adaptive Management: Improving the Application of Science to the Restoration of a Rare Tahoe Plant

Bruce Pavlik and Alison Stanton
BMP Ecosciences, South Lake Tahoe, CA

Tahoe yellow cress (Rorippa subumbellata), a plant endemic to the shores of Lake Tahoe, has been a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act since 1999. In 2002, a conservation strategy that described an adaptive management process for directing research, management, and restoration of the species was adopted by 13 signatory stakeholders. Although the implementation phase is at least four years from completion, we believe it provides an operative example of science-driven decision making. Specifically, we have found that implementation of adaptive management can be successful if: 1) the conceptual model of the adaptive management process is modified to include benefits to biological resources in situ, 2) all stakeholders are included upfront in the adaptive management working group to participate in the strategy and design of the whole program, 3) key management questions are used to focus data collection and identify essential management actions, 4) information flow and the sequence of project stages (actions) are designed to facilitate stakeholder responses, and 5) to build institutional experience, with agencies carefully choosing target resources with attributes that improve the chances of sustaining a long-term effort. A program of experimental reintroductions from 2003 to 2006 not only produced a wealth of knowledge useful to managers, it also released 1.5 million new seeds and 10,000 new plantlets into appropriate habitats around Lake Tahoe. Such tangible benefit to the species prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to downgrade the priority status of the species under ESA.

Conservation and Management of the Steamboat Buckwheat Eriogonum ovalifolium var. williamsiae

Alison Stanton and Bruce Pavlik
BMP Ecosciences, South Lake Tahoe, CA

Steamboat buckwheat (Eriogonum ovalifolium Nuttall var. williamsiae Reveal) is a plant found only on sinter substrates and hydrothermal terraces formed by hot spring activity in the Steamboat Hills of Washoe County, Nevada. Off-road vehicle use, dumping of refuse, mining activity, land development, and energy production have fragmented and damaged the unique habitat and contributed to a rapid decline in the total population size of Steamboat buckwheat. In 1982, Steamboat buckwheat was listed as a critically endangered plant in Nevada and in 1986 it was protected under the Endangered Species Act. Since federal listing in 1986, a consortium of public and private entities has cooperated to manage Steamboat buckwheat and its habitat. Past management efforts have focused on protective measures, such as fencing or transplantation that reduce the impacts of specific development projects. To date, many of these measures have had mixed results. The most recent information on population status is being generated from a subpopulation monitoring program established in May 2003. The program was designed to detect and document; 1) trends in the numbers of Steamboat buckwheat plants in subpopulations from two typical habitats; 2) the frequency and contribution of episodic reproduction to subpopulation stability; and 3) directional (i.e. successional) changes in populations of common, regional species within the two habitats. Density estimates in milestone years (years 5 and 10 after 2003) will be especially important for determining if the interim management objectives are being met. A management plan was finalized in 2005 that specifies five actions that should be implemented over the next 10 years (2005-2015) to further recovery efforts for the species.

(last updated 01 April 2008) 

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