Stone Corral-Josephine Peridotite Research Natural Area
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AN ECOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE PROPOSED STONE CORRAL-JOSEPHINE PERIDOTITE RESEARCH NATURAL AREA (L.E. HORTON-DARLINGTONIA BOG RESEARCH NATURAL AREA) ON THE SIX RIVERS NATIONAL FOREST, DEL NORTE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA (Purchase Order # 40-9AD6-5-907) Todd KeeLer-Wolf December 1986 INTRODUCTION ACCESS SCIENTIFIC INTEREST JUSTIFICATIONS FOR ESTABLISHMENT RARE FLORA ENDEMIC TAXA UNDESCRIBED TAXA THE DARLINGTONIA BOG PORT ORFORD CEDAR GEOLOGY SOILS CLIMATE VEGETATION BOG FOREST RIPARIAN VEGETATION DWARF FOREST LOWER DWARF FOREST JEFFREY PINE WOODLAND DOUGLAS-FIR FOREST CANYON FOREST IMPACTS RECOMMENDATIONS LITERATURE CITED APPENDIX 1; VASCULAR PLANT LIST FIGURES INTRODUCTION The proposed Darlingtonia bog Research Natural Area, also knawn as the L.E. Horton RNA covers approximately 1305 acres of eastwardly-facing slopes above the North Fork of the Smith River in extreme northwestern California. The area lies just four miles from the Oregon border and includes portions of Sections 24, 25, and 36 T. 18 N. R. 11 W. (Latitude 41' 55' N., Longitude 124' W.) Elevations range from ca. 600 ft. along the North Fork of the Smith River to slightly over 2400 ft. along the ridgetop south of the Stone Corral site. Terrain is steep and rugged in most of the southern and central portions of the study area, but becomes more gradual in the northern portion (see location map). It is in this northern area that the Darlfngtonia bogs occur (discussed as bog forest in the vegetation section). In addition to the Darlingtonia bogs (Figure 1) the site contains several other vegetation types including dwarf forest, Jeffrey pine woodland, lower dwarf forest, canyon forest, Douglas-fir forest, and two types of riparian vegetation. All of these associations occur on ultramafic soil derived either from peridotite or gabbro. An extremely large percentage of the flora is composed of serpentfnite (peridotite and other ultramafics) endemics, many of which are rare, endangered, and restricted to the Klamath Geologic Province, The Darlingtonia bogs house a number of these interesting taxa, but a greater number are found in the dwarf and lower dwarf forests (see justifications section). Because so much botanical interest lies ia the area outside of the DarlLngtonia bog forest and because Darlingtonia bogs are of relatively common occurrence in northwestern California, I feel the name of the proposed RNA should reflect something more specific either regarding the attributes of the area or its location. With this in mind I will offer the two following suggestions for a more appropriate name: 1) Stone Corral-Darlingtonia Bog -RNA; the sfte of Stone Corral is indicated on all recent Forest Service and USGS maps and is located within the proposed boundaries of the area. This name affords specificity with regard to location and also indicates one of the major botanical values of the area. 2) Stone Corral-Josephine Peridotite -'RNA* the Josephine Peridotite is the name given to the huge ultramafic sheet which covers this part of the Klamath Geologic Province. Many of the most interesting and unusual plants of the area are endemic to the Josephine sheet and the proposed RNA is representative of the flora found over much of this region, The Stone Corral portion of the name adds locational specificity, This is my preferred choice and the one 3 will use in this report. The formerly proposed -L.E. Horton-Darlingtonla Bog -RNA is undesirable in my opinion because it is not specific enough (several proposed RNA's and/or botanical areas have well-developed Darlingtonia bogs) and it also sets the questionable precedent of naming an RNA after a still-living person. Access: The study area may be easily reached by taking the Wimer Road where it joins route 197 north west of Xiouchi and traveling ca, 14 miles northeast, A shorter route from the Gasquet R.D. makes use of road 17N49, which takes off to the north from highway 199 ca. 2.5 miles west of Gasquet. Using this route (which is gated and may be closed during parts of the year) it is ca. 11 miles to Stone Corral. Scientific Interest: Perhaps the first scientist to stress the botanical and vegetational uniqueness of this portion of the Klamath Mountai,ns was R.W. Whittaker (1954, 1960) who studied serpentine plant ecology and compared vegetation on peridotite of the Josephine Sheet with vegetation on gabbro and granitic rock in the Siskiyou Mountains of adjacent Oregon, After Whittaker, many botanists have been intrigued by the floristic uniqueness of the area (e,g, Kruckeberg 1984, Waring 1969, White 1971). However, specific knowledge of the components of the aerpentinite flora in the Klamath Province is surprisingly weak. Kruckeberg (1984), in the most recent discussion of California's (and adjacent Oregon's) serpentine flora acknowledges the Klamath Ranges as a remarkable region for serpentine endemics with over 30 tsxa. However, he devotes only a short paragraph to this area in contrast to much longer discussions of better known, but less diverse serpentine floras of the state. In fact, the number of serpentine endemics to the Klamath Province probably exceeds any single region discussed by Kruckeberg including the south Coast Ranges, the Saa Francisco Bay region, the Napa-Sonoma- Lake County area, the Mendocino-Colusa-Tehama-Humboldt County area, and the Sierra Nevada. Over the past several years much controversy has been raised concerning the possible broad-scale mining of chromite ore from the Low Divide-Hardscrabble Creek-Gasquet Mountain area immediately south of the study area. It was only within the past several years that botanists working with environmental impact firms and the Forest Service discovered the great botanical wealth of this small area. They, at least indirectly, led to the nomination of the present candidate RNA by the Six Rivers N.F. JUSTXFICATIONS FOR ESTABLISHMENT Rare and Endemic Flora: Simply stated, the Stone Corral-Josephine Peridotite RNA contains a higher percentage of rare and endangered plant species than any other Candidate RNA so far nominated in California, The serpentinite terrain of northern Del Norte County and adjacent Curry and Josephine counties of Oregon holds among the highest percentages of rare endemics in the entire North American continent, A total of 40 taxa (25% of the entire vascular flora of the study area) are considered in some way rare and endangered (Smith and York 1984). These taxa may be broken down into groups based on the categories in the California Native Plant Society List. The following taxa are considered as rare and endangered plants of highest priority (CNPS List lb): Arabis aculeolata Sedum laxum subsp. flavidurn Both of these plants occur at lower elevations in the study area on rocky exposed sites in the inner canyon of the North Fork of the Smith River. The Arabis was seen more frequently than the Sedum, but both could be considered uncommon in the area. Both of these taxa are serpentine endemics to the Klamath Province and both are threatened by mining and logging operations. The following species are rare and/or endangered in California but are more common elsewhere (CNPS List 2): Horkelia sericata (locally common in dwarf forest and Jeffrey Pine woodland; Figure 2) Gentiana affinis (common in dwarf forest; figure 3) Pinguicula macroceras (locally common in bogs; Figure 4) Eriogonum pendulum (fairly common at mid-elevations) Castilleja elata (uncommon in bogs) Senecio lingulifolius (occasional in dwarf forest) Iris innominata (occasional in dwarf forest) Only Gentiana affinis and Piaguicula macroceras are widespread species found outside of the Klamath Province of NW California and SW Oregon. The other species are all Klameth serpentine endemics. The following species are representatives of CNPS List 3 (plants about which we need more information). Gentiana setigera (fairly common in bogs; Figure 5) Calamagrostis crassiglumis (rare edge of Douglas-fir forest) Lilium voLlm.eri. (occasional riparian areas) Aster p,aI~dicola(common in bogs) Three of these species are uncertain taxonomic entities, while Calamagrostis crassiglumis, with more information, is probably referable to list Ib, -G. setigera and -L. v~l'l~eri:. are considered Klamath serpentine endemics. The following taxa are considered members of list 4 (plants of limited distribution - a watch list); Darlingtonia californica (common in bog forest; see Fig. 1) Lilium bolanderi (occasional in dwarf forest) Monardella purpurea (uncommon in dwarf forest) Lomatium howellii (common in dwarf forest) Haplopappus racemosus subsp. congestus (common in Jeffrey Pine woodland and bog edges; Figure 6) Eriogonum tetnatum (occasional Jeffery Pine woodland) Veratrum insolitum (occasional dwarf forest) Tauschia glauca (fairly common dwarf forest) Epilobium rigidum (fairly common intermittant creek beds and among boulders in upper riparian zone; Figure 7) .Ariica spathulata (occasional dwarf forest) Angelica arguta (occasional riparian) Aster brickellioides (common dwarf forest) Sanicula peckiana (occasional dwarf forest) Trillium rivale (uacommon shaded riparian zone) Lathyrue delnorticus (occasional dwa~fand canyon forest) Salix delnortensis (occasional riparian) Salix tracyf (occasional riparian) Antennaria suffru,fescens- (occasional lower dwarf forest) Lomatiurn tracyf (occasional lower dwarf forest, inner Smith River canyon, not listed for Del Norte Co.) Vancouveria chrysantha (common dwarf forest) -Poa piperf (locally common dwarf forest and Jeffrey pine) A11 of these specfes except Angelica arguta are endemic