NORTHERN NEVADA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY
Rare Plant Committee Meeting
NEVADA RARE PLANT WORKSHOP
Tuesday, 3 April 2001, Las Vegas

2001 FINAL AGENDA
http://heritage.nv.gov/nrpw/agenda01.htm

The chair reserves the right to prioritize agenda items based on time received and/or conservation status, and to curtail lengthy or marginally relevant items, to ensure that the most critical items are addressed.

• Reno on Thursday, 4 April 2002? Airport location still OK?
• Lunch Break?

• Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Jerry Dion: current activities with Tahoe yellowcress (Rorippa subumbellata) conservation.
• Nevada Test Site, Kent Ostler: NTS is in the process of putting together a monitoring program for the species of concern on the NTS. Probably many of us are at a point where we need to monitor populations to insure that they are viable and not impacted. How often should that be done? What kinds of data are appropriate to take? How many individuals/populations can you lose before you need to send up the red flag? Does anyone have standard protocols? Discussion item.
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Lloyd Stark: update on Entosthodon planoconvexus, Grimmia americana, Didymodon nevadensis, and other rare mosses of Nevada.
• Nellis Air Force Range: update on recent surveys by Frank Smith.
• Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Karen Zamudio: Review of the sensitive species listed in the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (Framework) to consider in regards to the likelihood of their occurrence in NV and possible need for tracking. Some of these occur close to the NV boundary at Sagehen Field station. I'm not sure that we have any comparable habitat on the NV side of the line, but will be looking and having people look this field season. It would be of help to have other scientists report any findings in NV to the Nevada Natural Heritage Program. See species list and comments on comments page.
• Nevada Division of Forestry, John Jones: update on Arctomecon californica and other activities of the Southern Nevada Rare Plant Working Group.
• The Arboretum at Flagstaff, Joyce Maschinski: Upcoming Southwest Rare Plant Task Force meeting.
• Forest Service Sensitive Species: have they been finalized since 2000?
• Nevada Natural Heritage Program, Jim Morefield: update on current and future projects. Two plants proposed for state delisting. Scorecard 2000 finalized. Web site expanded, photographs and wildflower reports solicited, new status reports available.
• Northern Nevada Native Plant Society:
• Other Agencies?
• Questions and Answers

• Draba incrassata - Left open by 2000 Workshop until Steve Rae's report of its presence on the Nevada side of the Sweetwater Mountains can be verified. Any new information?
• Eriogonum corymbosum var. glutinosum - recommended for the first time for addition to the Nevada list of fully protected flora at the 2000 Workshop, contingent on the results of research into distinctness and overall range of the southern Nevada form. Is there any new information? If so, do we concur with the recommendation for the second time? Jerry Tiehm (April 2000) reports that its range includes Garfield, Wayne, Kane, Washington, and Iron counties in Utah, and Coconino, Navajo, and Apache counties in Arizona. See also Jerry's comments.
• Eriogonum phoeniceum - 2000 Workshop left recommendation for BLM Sensitive status open pending field work to locate more populations. Any new information?
• Eriogonum salicornioides - left open at 2000 Workshop pending verification of presence in Nevada. G3 and of concern in Oregon and Idaho. Add to NNNPS Watch List? Jerry Tiehm reports (April 2000) that the Percy Train collection at Penn State labeled from northern Humboldt County may in fact be from southern Oregon instead. See also Jerry's comments.
• Eustoma exaltatum - added to NNNPS Watch list, recommended for BLM sensitive list 2 years ago, extirpation from Nevada appeared imminent. Has there been any action or new information? See also Jerry Tiehm's comments.
• Ivesia webberi - the 2000 workshop made the first recommendation to add this species to the Nevada list of fully protected flora, based few known populations in Nevada and California, proximity to urban expansion in the Reno area, and vulnerability of the habitat to disturbance. A range-wide status report recently completed by Carol Witham concurs, and further recommends the species as a candidate for listing as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Do we concur for the second time with adding the species to the Nevada list? Do we concur with recommending federal candidate status?
• Lathyrus grimesii and Trifolium leibergii - any new information on status of population(s) infested by leafy spurge or other noxious weeds? See comments by Steve Anderson.
• Lesquerella goodrichii - left open at 2000 Workshop because of insufficient information for a decision. Of concern in Utah, known also from eastern Nevada. How common or rare, threatened or secure, is it? Add to NNNPS Watch List?
• Mosses: at the 2000 Workshop, early reports on a Spring Mountain mossing foray indicated some new state records and/or undescribed taxa. What was the disposition of these reports, and are there any new taxa of conservation concern for Nevada?
• Penstemon sudans - added to agenda by 2000 Workshop pending verification of its presence in Nevada. Reported there by Intermountain Flora, habitat open rocky places usually of igneous origin, in sagebrush or open woodland. Otherwise known from roughly 20 sites in Modoc, Lassen, and Plumas counties in northeastern California. Global rank G2G3. Any new information? Add to Watch List? See also Jerry Tiehm's comments.
• Senecio pattersonensis - 2000 Workshop recommended adding to NNNPS Watch list pending verification of a specimen from Nevada. Any new information on the Wassuk Range or Sweetwater Mountains reports?
• Sphaeromeria argentea - left open at 2000 Workshop. Rare and scattered in e.-c. Idaho, sw. Wyoming, nw. Colorado, sw. Montana, and two areas of Nevada in Elko and Nye counties. Currently ranked G3?, S2 in Montana, S1 in Nevada. Widespread in overall range although rare in Nevada. Habitat is low-elevation P-J, in shallow soils over flat volcanic bedrock, similar to Astragalus beatleyae habitat. Idaho added it to the special status species lists for BLM and USFS. Looks like Artemisia arbuscula when not in flower. Any new information? Add to Watch list? See also Jerry Tiehm's comments.

• Aspicilia fruticulosa - rim lichen. First lichen added to Nevada Natural Heritage Program's tracking list! It is a "vagrant" or "tumbleweed" lichen, and is wind-dispersed, completing its entire life cycle unattached to any substrate. The species is sensitive to trampling and other ground disturbances, and is eaten by domestic sheep and other introduced and native animals. It was only recently noted in North America, where it is known from scattered sites in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and one location on the Sheldon Antelope Range in northern Humboldt County, Nevada. It is also known from Asia, and is probably somewhat more common in North America than current records indicate, but is ranked G3 because of its overall rarity and vulnerability. Add to NNNPS watch list?
• Astragalus ensiformis var. gracilior - Veyo milkvetch (=A. minthorniae var. gracilior) The variety is currently ranked T1, known only from Washington County, Utah, north of the Virgin River in the foothills of the Pine Valley, Beaver Dam, and Bull Valley mountains, and from one site in eastern Lincoln County, Nevada, in the Cedar Wash area of the Clover Mountains. Habitat from Intermountain Flora is "gravelly clay hillsides, flats, and gullied bluffs, in pinyon-juniper woodland, commonly on limestone. Add to NNNPS watch list?
• Atriplex longitrichoma - Pahrump silverscale. Recently described annual, segregated from Atriplex argentea complex based on presence of long deciduous hairs and different fruit characters, closest to Atriplex argentea var. hillmanii. Restricted to Pahrump and Stewart valleys, most abundant in abandoned disturbances. Is the taxonomy reasonable? Threatened by habitat conversion in Pahrump Valley? Add to Watch or Threatened List?
• Lotus argyraeus var. multicaulis - scrub lotus. Known from a single site in Clark County, Nevada, west of McCullough Springs in the McCullough Mountains; otherwise endemic to a small area of the New York Mountains of southeastern California, where known from about 4 sites. Global rank T1, ranked S1.3 in California, and on CNPS list 1B. Nevada rank also S1. Not surveyed in Nevada, habitat sandy washes, ledges or clay slopes in canyons. Add to NNNPS watch list?
• Mimulus ovatus - Steamboat monkeyflower. So far only known from Steamboat Hot springs and nearby Geiger Grade area on private and possibly NDOT rights of way. Taxonomy still uncertain because of apparent hybrid origin, and reports from Carson Valley and other western Nevada valleys need to be checked. But if current knowledge and taxonomy is correct, it could be extremely vulnerable to urban and residential development. Move from NNNPS watch list to threatened list? Recommend for state listing? Or wait for more solid information first?
• Penstemon bicolor - after recent field studies, are there any new data or opinions regarding the distinction between var. bicolor and var. roseus?
• Pinus washoensis - David Charlet (April 2000) is planning to further investigate the relationship of the Nevada populations to the northern race of Pinus ponderosa var. ponderosa. He still believes they may be distinct at some level and worthy of continued conservation status (see the comments by David Charlet). Any status changes or recommendations?
• Ranunculus triternatus - obscure buttercup (=R. reconditus) state-listed as endangered in Oregon and threatened in Washington, where restricted to a small area near the Columbia River in the Columbia Hills and Mill Creek drainage, and where threatened by agricultural conversion, herbicide use, and possibly recreational use. Otherwise known only from one location in Idaho, and one location in Elko County, Nevada, 18 miles northwest of Elko. Global rank G2, ranked S1 in each state. Not surveyed in Nevada, habitat sagebrush slopes. Add to NNNPS watch list?

• Ferocactus cylindraceus - barrel cactus, increasing concern over legal and illegal collecting pressure in southern Nevada. Extremely popular for ornamental and landscape use. Are declines serious enough yet to warrant any status recommendations?
• Petalonyx thurberi ssp. gilmanii - Death Valley sandpaper plant. Known from about a dozen sites with some threats in and around Death Valley, Inyo County, California; otherwise reported as rare in adjacent southern Nye County, Nevada. Global rank T2, ranked S2 in California, on CNPS list 1B. Not surveyed in Nevada, habitat low-elevation dry canyons and washes, sandy or rocky areas. Add to NNNPS watch list?

(last updated 29 March 2001) 

BACK TO HOME PAGE