Conservation Assessment of Calcareous Ecosystems in Pennsylvania
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF CALCAREOUS ECOSYSTEMS IN PENNSYLVANIA Green milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora) Grooved yellow flax (Linum sulcatum) Wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) Yellow pimpernel (Taenidia integerimma) Mesic outcrop with slender cliffbrake, maidenhair spleenwort Purple cliffcliffbrakebrake (Pellaea atropurpurea) CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF CALCAREOUS ECOSYSTEMS IN PENNSYLVANIA Jessica I. McPherson October 2013 Funded by: Wild Resources Conservation Program Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources 400 Market Street, 6th floor Harrisburg, PA 17101 Prepared by: Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program Western Pennsylvania Conservancy 800 Waterfront Drive Pittsburgh, PA 15222 This report may be cited as: McPherson, J. I. 2013. Conservation Assessment of Calcareous Ecosystems. Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program at Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Pittsburgh, PA. Report to Wild Resources Conservation Program, Grant #10391. 152 pg. Acknowledgements I would like to thank all of the many people who have contributed skills, time, effort, and funding towards the completion of this study: Steven Grund and John Kunsman contributed their botanical expertise to most of our field visits. Steven and John also provided helpful comments and insights throughout the project, from site selection to the habitat preferences of individual taxa. Dr. Larry Klotz also helped select sites in Franklin County and joined our field survey team there. Steven Grund, Anthony Davis, Bonnie Isaac, Joseph Isaac, Dr. Larry Klotz, John Kunsman, Dr. Ann Rhoads, and Ephraim Zimmerman all contributed to the panel of expert botanists that created the pH categorization of the Pennsylvania flora; immeasurable thanks for their time and effort to join the panel and their willingness to share their extensive knowledge of the state flora, without which this endeavor would have been impossible. Ephraim Zimmerman provided insight and expertise in many facets of plant ecology addressed in the report, including plant community analysis and floristic quality assessment; and editorial review to improve the clarity of the presentation of the report. Chris Tracey provided assistance in setting up the MaxEnt models and review of the modeling section of the report. The Wild Resources Conservation Program and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy provided funding for this project. 1 Table of Contents Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ 4 List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 7 Background ................................................................................................................................................... 8 Plants and Substratum Chemistry ............................................................................................................. 8 Distribution of Calcareous Geology in Pennsylvania ............................................................................... 9 Influence of geology and other environmental factors on soil pH ............................................................ 9 I. Assessing the Pennsylvania Vascular Flora for pH-specialist Taxa ........................................................ 11 Methods .................................................................................................................................................. 11 Results and Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 12 II. Plant Communities of Calcareous Habitats in Pennsylvania ................................................................. 15 Wetlands ................................................................................................................................................. 15 Terrestrial Communities ......................................................................................................................... 16 Methods............................................................................................................................................... 16 Results and Discussion ....................................................................................................................... 18 Community Type Descriptions ........................................................................................................... 29 III. Extent of limestone habitats in Pennsylvania ....................................................................................... 34 Methods .................................................................................................................................................. 34 Upland Calcareous Habitat ................................................................................................................. 34 Species and Community Habitat Models ............................................................................................ 38 Wetland Calcareous Habitat ................................................................................................................ 40 Protected Areas ................................................................................................................................... 40 Results and Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 41 Upland calcareous habitats.................................................................................................................. 41 Species and Community Habitat Models ............................................................................................ 47 Wetland Calcareous Habitat ................................................................................................................ 58 Protected areas .................................................................................................................................... 64 IV. Conservation Assessment of Calcareous Flora and Plant Communities .............................................. 66 Biogeography of Pennsylvania Calciphile Taxa ..................................................................................... 67 Methods............................................................................................................................................... 67 Results & Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 68 Habitat analysis of calciphile taxa .......................................................................................................... 85 Methods............................................................................................................................................... 85 Results & Discussion .......................................................................................................................... 88 Summary of Conservation Significance.............................................................................................. 99 Conservation Needs of Calcareous Vascular Plants and Their Habitats ............................................... 100 Habitat isolation and fragmentation .................................................................................................. 100 Land Protection ................................................................................................................................. 101 Invasive species ................................................................................................................................ 102 Climate Change ................................................................................................................................. 103 Wetlands ........................................................................................................................................... 103 Grasslands ......................................................................................................................................... 105 Woodlands ........................................................................................................................................ 106 Mesic Outcrops ................................................................................................................................. 108 Forests ............................................................................................................................................... 108 Future Study Needs ............................................................................................................................... 109 Literature Cited ......................................................................................................................................... 110 Appendix 1: Study Site Profiles ........................................................................................................... 116 Appendix 2: Calciphile Taxa Habitat Preferences ................................................................................ 142 2 Terrestrial Taxa Habitat Preferences ................................................................................................