Investigation of Potentially Sensitive Communities in the Old Dummy Burn, Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, 2006

Robert Lipkin

Alaska Natural Heritage Program Environment and Natural Resources Institute University of Alaska Anchorage 707 A Street Anchorage, Alaska 99501

December 2007

INTRODUCTION...... 2 METHODS...... 2 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...... 3 COMMUNITIES...... 3 FLORISTICS ...... 6 RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... 10 LITERATURE CITED...... 10 APPENDIX A: TABLES ...... 12 APPENDIX B: LIST OF VASCULAR COLLECTED FROM THE KANUTI NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, 13–18 JULY 2006...... 13 APPENDIX C: ALASKA NATURAL HERITAGE PROGRAM CONSERVATION RANK DEFINITIONS FOR SPECIES...... 15 APPENDIX D: FIGURES ...... 16

1 Introduction The Kanuti Kilolitna River flows west along the southern boundary of the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge (KNWR) and then turns sharply north through the refuge to join the Kanuti River northwest of Old Dummy Lake. The KNWR has an active wildfire history and the Old Dummy fire of 2005 burned areas adjacent to the Kanuti and Kanuti Kilolitna rivers. During a 1999 survey of the Kanuti Kilolitna River, Saperstein (2007) noted plant associations on gravel bars and adjacent upland sites that were not seen elsewhere in the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, including wild carnation ( repens) and sage ( spp.). The University of Alaska, Alaska Natural Heritage Program (AKNHP), had been contracted to conduct a post-fire investigation of invasive plants in KNWR and agreed to expand this work to include a preliminary study of these alpine and riparian plant associations, including their statewide and global significance and the potential effects of fire on these associations. This report focuses on the results of the 2006 investigations of these alpine and riparian sites. Methods Fieldwork was conducted between 13-18 July 2006 by Robert Lipkin (AKNHP) and refuge biologist Lisa Saperstein. Gravel bars, river terraces, and alpine slopes with potentially interesting plant assemblages were identified from aerial photography, maps, and the previous experience of Saperstein. These sites were accessed in the course of invasive plant surveys and Composite Burn Index (CBI) surveys conducted in the Refuge at the same time. We based out of KNWR housing in Bettles and accessed individual sites by helicopter. We surveyed the sites on foot, sampling representative habitats and exposures, so as to capture the range of variation at each site.

Each site was mapped on an aerial photo or USGS topographic map and a georeferenced point was recorded using a handheld GPS. The routes surveyed were also mapped and representative photos were taken of the sites. At each site we recorded significant landforms and plant associations. A species list was compiled for most sites, with notes on the abundance and habitat for all taxa collected, as well as other taxa present, where possible.

Collections were made only if the population was large enough to support removal of individuals following the collecting protocols of Murray and Parker (1990) and Parker and Murray (1992). Rare plant sighting forms with maps were completed for species with an AKNHP state rank of less than 3 (“rare or uncommon,” see Appendix B for discussion of Heritage Program ranks).

Each specimen was given a unique collection number tied to a particular date and site, a provisional identification, and dried in plant presses in Bettles. Final determinations were made in Anchorage.

The first set of collections will be archived at the Herbarium of the University of Alaska Museum (ALA). A duplicate set, where there is sufficient material, will be housed at the herbarium of the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA).

2 Results and Discussion

Communities

Eighteen sites were visited during the 2006 CBI and invasive plant surveys (Table 1, Figure 1).

The vegetation of most of KNWR consists of a mosaic of boreal spruce and birch forest intermingled with riparian, palustrine and lacustrine wetlands typical of much of Interior Alaska. Many of the sites visited were characteristic of this boreal forest type, but several (detailed below) represent unusual associations.

Two unburned gravel bars along the Kanuti Kilolitna River (sites 141 and 148) contained communities dominated by Artemisia alaskana, Bromopsis pumpellianus, Calamagrostis purpurascens and Dianthus repens (Figure 2). Both communities were on older channels of the river, back from the active point bars, but still subject to seasonal flooding. Both were moist sites, with a very high cover of mosses. In both cases A. alaskana was the dominant (> 25% cover), with Dianthus repens and Lupinus arcticus frequent to abundant forbs, and Bromopsis pumpellianus, Calamagrostis purpurascens, richardsonii, Poa glauca, and Elymus spp. the most common grasses. Although A. alaskana is not uncommon on rubble slopes and (as a minor element) on some gravel bars in Interior and northern Alaska, I have not been able to find any records where it is the dominant member of a riparian gravel bar community, especially not in combination with Dianthus and C. purpurascens. This community is not described in existing vegetation classifications (e.g. Viereck et al. 1992) and discussions with other Alaskan ecologists and botanists have not uncovered similar communities in Alaska or the Yukon Territory. In reviewing Viereck et al. 1992, these communities might represent a variant of an open low scrub Sagebrush-Grass community, II.C.2.n, but differ in being on a gravel bar rather than a steep, south facing bluff, in having a high percentage cover of moss, and in the unusual combination of A. alaskana and Dianthus as dominant species. Other affinities might be with the dry graminoid herbaceous Midgrass-Shrub community, III.A.1.c, but these communities have less than 25% shrub cover, are typically on dry slopes not gravel bars and, again, lack the unusual species combination seen here.

These gravel bar communities have elements that suggest they may be analogs of steppe- like grassland communities thought to be more widespread in Alaska during the most recent emergence of the Bering land bridge 8,000 to 20,000 years ago (Young 1982). Young suggests these communities were generally open and characterized by bunch grasses (such as Bromopsis spp. and Calamagrostis purpurascens) and one or more species of Artemisia. Although A. frigida is often seen as a common indicator of modern analogs on south facing bluffs, A. alaskana is likely to have been an important member of such communities on other sites. Both sites (141 and 148) are on the Kanuti Kilolitna River, between the Ray Mountains at the south boundary of the refuge and the confluence with the Kanuti River to the north. A cursory look at satellite imagery of KNWR on Google Earth shows few other gravel bars with similar signatures, and all of them are restricted to this same stretch of the Kanuti Kilolitna River.

3 Flying over the KNWR you are impressed by the extensive stands of mixed spuce and birch boreal forest, interspersed with wetlands, that make up most of the refuge. At the southern edge of the refuge, however, we find a distinctive set of orange colored alpine slopes extending northeast from the northern edge of the Ray Mountains towards Caribou Mountain and the Dalton Highway. These slopes are part of an extensive ultramafic deposit (Patton and Miller 1970) and form one of a series of bands of ultramafic outcrops in Alaska (Patton et al. 1989). The Kanuti series of ultramafics was first mapped by Mendenhall in 1902 during a remarkable traverse by canoe from Fort Yukon to Deering via the Dall, Kanuti, Alatna and Kobuk Rivers. The Kanuti ultramafics were characterized by Patton and Miller (1970) as “typical serpentinites, composed almost entirely of serpentinized peridotites, chiefly harzburgite, and serpentinized dunite. In the field these rocks are recognizable, even at a distance, by their characteristic red-brown weathering and sparse cover of vegetation.” Ultramafic and serpentine soils are well known for supporting unusual plant associations and endemic species in many parts of the world (Alexander et al. 2007). Although ultramafic soils in Alaska are not known to support the same rich endemic floras as they do in other regions, they do contain unusual plant associations and often contain rare species or significant range extensions.

Sites 135, 143, 144, 145, 157, 158, and 159 were all on ultramafic alpine slopes above the Kanuti Kilolitna or upper Kanuti Rivers. These sparsely vegetated sites contained unusual dry graminoid herbaceous associations characterized by Calamagrostis purpurascens, Festuca lenensis, Koeleria asiatica, Carex scirpoidea, Artemisia borealis, Eritrichium splendens, Dianthus repens, Armeria scabra, Castilleja raupii, Papaver nudicaule ssp. americanum, Packera hyperborealis, Smelowskia porsildii, Lupinus arcticus, Silene acaulis, and Noccaea arctica. These sites don’t match any existing community descriptions I have been able to find. Some, such as site 143 (Figure 3), may be a variant of Viereck’s dryas dwarf scrub , II.D.1, but dryas was not a dominant species on most of the sites. The other sites best fit Viereck’s dry graminoid herbaceous Midgrass- Shrub community, III.A.1.c, but the particular species combination differs substantially from known examples, especially in the conspicuous abundance of Eritrichium splendens, Dianthus repens, Armeria scabra, Castilleja raupii, and the presence of Koeleria asiatica, Papaver nudicaule ssp. americanum and Noccaea arctica. The combination of the bunch grasses Calamagrostis purupurascens, Festuca lenensis, and Koeleria asiatica, along with the sage species Artemisia borealis, and the various herbs with Beringian distributions such as Eritrichium splendens, Silene ostenfeldii, Packera hyperborealis and Papaver nudicaule ssp. americanum give it a steppe-like aspect (Figures 4, 5, 6). Sparsely vegetated portions of some of these sites also resemble a variant of Viereck’s dry forb herbaceous communities (III.B.1.c), though with an unusual species assemblage (Figure 7).

Site 135 (Figure 8) was located on an ultramafic bluff above the south side of the Kanuti Kilolitna River, just south of the KNWR boundary. This site was similar to the other ultramafic Midgrass-Shrub communities, but had a rich lichen understory, principally of Cladina species.

4 Site 156 (Figure 9) lies along the same ridge as the ultramafic sites, but is on non- ultramafic substrate of schist, phyllite and granite, presumably with a circumneutral or acidic pH. It is dramatically different from the above sites, containing a more typical dryas dwarf shrub tundra community, (Viereck II.D.1.a), with Dryas octopetala, Hierochloe alpina, Campanula lasiocarpa, Diapensia lapponica, Loiseleuria procumbens, and Salix rotundifolia. Conspicuously absent were the species that were common on, and characteristic of, the ultramafic sites, including Eritrichium splendens, Dianthus repens, Armeria scabra, Castilleja raupii, Papaver nudicaule ssp. americanum, Noccaea arctica, Festuca lenensis, and Packera hyperborealis. Clearly, some of the differences are due to differences in soil pH, but the ultramafic sites are not typical of other Alaskan calcareous sites, and lack expected calciphiles such as Lesquerella arctica,

Site 155 was on the shoulder of a ridge just south of Sithylemenkat Lake and lacked nearly all of the characteristic species of the ultramafic sites. It had a mix of paper birch woodland and ericaceous dwarf scrub tundra with scattered, sparsely vegetated, granite boulders and outcrops. The location was notable as the only site with Douglasia ochotensis, a range extension to the south.

The other noteworthy site was site 149, a series of low ridges 1.6 km east of the Kanuti Kilolitna River, at the base of the ridge VABM Dummy. These ridges, surrounded by spruce muskeg, contained areas with quartz pebbles alternating with areas of reddish (presumably ultramafic) soils (Figure 10). The ultramafic areas contained associations similar to the nearby alpine ultramafic sites, with Festuca lenensis, Calamagrostis purpurascens, Carex scirpoidea, Eritrichium splendens, Dianthus repens, Packera hyperborealis, Smelowskia porsildii, Castilleja raupii, and Noccaea arctica, while the clearly demarcated quartz pebble areas contained a very open paper birch/white spruce/ lichen woodland. In some areas, where there was a high proportion of exposed quartz pebbles, this woodland reached an extreme expression with the birch and spruce having less than 2% cover, and the remaining plant cover consisting almost entirely of Selaginella sibirica and Polytrichum spp. (Figures 11, 12). I have not seen references to similar associations elsewhere.

Part of the motivation for the investigation of these plant communities was to determine if they were adversely affected by fire. All of the sites discussed above (except site 159) are within the boundaries of the Old Dummy Burn (Figure 1). The two Artemisia alaskana – Dianthus repens gravel bar sites were not burned. Several of the alpine ultramafic sites were burned, and several were just outside the actual burn area (Figures 13, 14, 15). A light burn of any of these sites would probably not adversely affect the communities, and might help maintain them by maintaining their open, unforested, successional status. It is unclear what effect an intense fire would have, but unless all similar gravel bars and alpine sites were affected, it is possible that propagules would allow re-establishment of the communities. Burns at particular sites (Figure 15) did disrupt the vegetation mat and it is not clear how long these shrub and grasslands will take to regenerate. Given the long history of fire in this area, additional studies are warranted to determine the effects of fire on these communities.

5 Floristics

During the 2006 surveys, we made 96 collections, representing 50 taxa (Appendix B). Of these, five species are ranked as rare or imperiled in Alaska by the Alaska Natural Heritage Program (State rank S2 or S3; Appendix C), and eight collections represent significant range extensions or range fillers (locations that fill in a significant gap in the previously known range). Three of these (Armeria scabra, Castilleja raupii, and Dianthus repens) are included here although they were first noted and collected in 1999 by Saperstein. Several other collections (e.g. Artemisia alaskana) fill in minor gaps in the known range of species. Two others species (Alyssum obovatum and Tilingia ajanensis) were reported for KNWR by Mendenhall (1902) and their significance is discussed below. [Where nomenclature differs from ITIS or Hultén, the corresponding names are included, in brackets, below the entry.]

Armeria scabra Pall. ex Roem. & Schult Plumbaginaceae [Armeria maritma (P. Mill.) Willd.]

This striking pink flowered plant is the only member of the leadwort family (Plumbaginacea) in Alaska. It is usually found near the coast, but is known from scattered locations inland, usually on sandy soils, alpine ridges or outcrops. The locations on ultramafic alpine sites in KNWR were first noted by Saperstein who made collections on her 1999 reconnaissance of the Kanuti Kilolitna River. These locations are disjunct by 250 km from the nearest location at Chandler Lake to the north.

Castilleja raupii Pennell Scrophulariaceae

First collected in KNWR by Saperstein in 1999, these locations extend the range of this species west from the nearest location at Wickersham Dome, 200 km to the east. It is also widely disjunct to the lower Kuskokwim River. This North American species of Indian paintbrush is closely related to C. rubra of .

Dianthus repens Willd.

The KNWR locations (first collected by Saperstein in 1999) are some of the easternmost locations in Interior Alaska (along with sites in the Ray Mountains to the south and the Dalton Highway). This species is widely disjunct to Kachemak bay in the south, and to the Arctic National Wildlife Range and northern Yukon Territory to the northeast.

Douglasia ochotensis (Willd. ex Roemer & J.A. Schultes) Hultén Primulaceae

The main range of this species is in the Brooks Range and extends west to the Seward Peninsula and . This collection in KNWR is an extension to the south from the nearest location, 100 km to the northeast along the Dalton Highway. This distinctive cushion forming douglasia with deep pink flowers was found at site 155 on granite boulders south of Sithylemenkat Lake. It was not found on any other site in KNWR. It is also found to the northeast in the Keele Mts.

6 caespitosus Nutt.

This North American cordilleran fleabane was collected on site 135, just south of the KNWR boundary, on a lichen-rich ultramafic grassland bluff above the Kanuti Kilolitna River. It is a range extension to the east of 250 km from the nearest location on the Steese Highway and is likely to be found on sites within KNWR.

Festuca lenensis Drobow G4G5 S3

Closely related to (and sometimes considered conspecific with) F. auriculata Drobow, this amphi-Beringian species is known from dry, calcareous or alkaline sites in Alaska, the Yukon, and the Russian Far East. Found here on several of the ultramafic alpine sites (sites 145, 157, 159) this species has been found at an increasing number of sites and is likely more common than present collections indicate. The KNWR collections represent a slight range filler between the Kobuk River to the west and the White Mountains to the east.

Festuca saximontana Rydb. Poaceae

This North American fescue was found only on the Artemisia alaskana – Dianthus gravel bar site 141. The collection is a range extension of over 200 km to the northwest from the nearest sites in the Tanana Valley. It is also widely disjunct at Toolik Lake (to the north) and at Kotzebue (to the west).

Koeleria asiatica Domin Poaceae G4 S2S3

This bunch grass of Eurasia is found on dry, sandy sites in northern Alaska where it is known from fewer than 20 locations. It is also found on several sites in northern Yukon Territory, and disjunct to the southwest Yukon Territory. The KNWR sites were on alpine ultramafics and are 400 km south of the nearest site on the North Slope, and nearly 500 km east of the Nulato Hills location.

Packera hyperborealis (Greenm.) A. & D. Löve Asteraceae [Senecio hyperborealis Greenm.]

Found on most of the ultramafic alpine sites in the 2006 study, this amphi-Beringian species is found across northern Alaska and the Yukon Territory. The KNWR sites are 250 km south of the nearest site at Castle Mountain, and over 300 km from the nearest sites to the east and west.

7 Papaver nudicaule ssp. americanum Rändel ex D.F. Murray Papaveraceae G4G5T4T5 S3

An interesting segregate of the Asian P. nudicaule, subspecies americanum is endemic to Alaska and the Yukon Territory. This poppy of dry, rocky slopes is known from fewer than 30 sites in Alaska. It was previously reported from the Ray Mountains, just to the south of KNWR, and is locally common in eastern Alaska on dry, south facing, rocky slopes.

Silene ostenfeldii (A.E.Porsild) J.K.Morton Caryophyllaceae

This species is part of a difficult group that has been poorly understood. The KNWRA site a fills a gap between the nearest site 150 km to the north along the Dalton Highway and a site 200 km to the east.

Noccaea arctica (A.E. Porsild) Holub Brassicaceae [Thlaspi arcticum A.E. Porsild] [Noccaea montana (L.) F.K. Mey. ssp. arctica (A.E. Porsild) A. Löve & D. Löve] G3 S3

This easily overlooked mustard has been found at an increasing number of sites across Alaska over the last few years. Previously regarded as endemic to Alaska and the Yukon, it may be conspecific with the Russian N. cocleariforme auct. non (DC) A. & D. Löve. This species was previously collected along the Dalton Highway near Kanuti Creek. Otherwise it is known from locations 160 km to the north and south.

Alyssum obovatum (C.A. Mey.) Turcz. Brassicaceae [Alyssum americanum Greene] G5? S2S3

This species was collected by W. L. Poto as part of a U.S. Geological Survey reconnaissance of the Dall, Kanuti, Alatna, and Kobuk Rivers in 1902 (Mendenhall 1902). Mendenhall’s group floated the Kanuti River and were the first to describe and map the ultramafic deposits of the area. No specific sites are listed on the collection labels, but a comparison of the collection date with the campsite descriptions in the report makes it clear that this collection was made on a rocky slope above the Kanuti River between site 159 and Kanuti Hot Springs, placing it either in, or adjacent to, KNWR. The Kanuti River site is the furthest west report in Alaska for this species of north central Asia. The nearest Alaska location is 350 km to the east on the Porcupine River. The nearest location in Asia is over 1,000 km to the west. In Alaska and the Yukon, this species is known from fewer than 20 sites where it is locally common on steep, dry, south facing stony slopes, usually on calcareous or ultramafic substrate.

8 Tilingia ajanensis Regel & Tiling Apiaceae [Cnidium ajanense (Regel & Tiling) Drude]

Hultén (1941-50) identified a collection of Poto’s from the Kanuti River as this species. Hultén noted that the collection was scrappy, but was confident that it was not Cnidium cnidiifolium, the only other species it could be confused with. Although Hultén was very familiar with both species, the fact that this would be the only location in for the Asian T. ajanensis makes me hesitant to accept the record without confirmation. The collection is at the U.S. National Herbarium of the Smithsonian Institution and I have not been able to examine it. Comparing the collection date with the Mendenhall report makes it clear that the collection site is the same as our site 159, a rich grass herb meadow on ultramafic soils. We saw no specimens of Cnidium during our brief stop at this site, but we were not specifically looking for it. These ultramafic sites harbor an unusual suite of amphi-Beringian and Asian species (some widely disjunct from their nearest locations) in communities suggestive of hypothesized cold steppe analogs, making this species report more plausible than it otherwise might be.

The Kanuti ultramafic sites were notable as much for the species that were missing as for the unusual species that were present. These sites lacked many of the species we commonly find on alpine sites. Legumes such as Oxytropis bryopyhila, O. maydelliana, or O. jordalii are often common on alpine sites, as are Astragalus alpinus or A. umbellatus or members of Hedysarum. All were absent from the ultramafic sites in KNWR. The endemic O. kokrinensis is common in the Ray Mountains just to the south (Farquhar and Schubert 1980) but was not seen on any of our sites. The only legume present was Lupinus arcticus. The only mustards present were Parrya nudicaulis, Smelowskia porsildii, and the rare Noccaea arctica, which was here fairly common. Conspicuously absent were any species of Draba, Arabis, or Lesquerella. Dwarf willows such as Salix arctica, S. rotundifolia, S. phlebophylla, and S. reticulata are common on many alpine sites, but none were found on our ultramafic sites. A species notable in its absence from sand bars in KNWR was Symphyothrichum yukonense (Cronquist) G.L. Nesom. This endemic of Alaska and the Yukon is found on sand bars of the Koyukuk River, just north of KNWR, but has yet to be found in the refuge despite abundant, seemingly suitable habitat. Recommendations The ultramafic alpine sites and Artemisia alaskana gravel bars of KNWR contain unusual and apparently undescribed communities that are either rare or unknown elsewhere. These sites are an important part of the biological diversity of KNWR and of Alaska. The extent of the Artemisia alaskana – Dianthus gravel bars should be investigated and mapped. The ultramafic alpine sites also deserve further study to define their floristics and to more comprehensively describe the communities. The effects of fire on them, whether harmful or beneficial, should also be studied. Efforts should be made to confirm the identity of the Poto collection tentatively identified as Tilingia ajanensis, and, if confirmed, to revisit site 159. Efforts should also be made to locate the Alyssum obovatum site.

9 Acknowledgements I would like to thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for supporting these investigations of the flora and vegetation of Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge. I would especially like to thank Lisa Saperstein, wildlife biologist with KNWR, for first recognizing the potential significance of these sites and for securing the funding to make the field work, collections and this report possible. Her help in site selection and her assistance and discussions in the field greatly added to the success of the project. Finally, I would like to thank Troy Cambier of Chena River Aviation for his invaluable services as helicopter pilot, field assistant, and DJ. Literature Cited

Alexander, E. B., R. G. Coleman, T. Keeler–Wolf, and S. Harrison. 2007. Serpentine geoecology of western North America. Oxford University Press. 512 p.

Farquhar, N. and J. Schubert, eds. 1980. Ray Mountains, central Alaska: environmental analysis and resources statement. Northern Studies Program, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT. 390 p.

Hultén, E. 1941–50. Flora of Alaska and Yukon, 1–10. Lunds Universitets Årsskrift N.F., Aud. 2 Vols. 37–46. 1902 p.

Hultén, E. 1968. Flora of Alaska and neighboring territories. Stanford University Press. 1008 p.

Mendenhall, W. C. 1902. Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska by way of Dall, Kanuti, Allen, and Kowak rivers. U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper No. 10. 68p.

Murray, D. F., and C. L. Parker. 1990. An introduction to plant collecting. University of Alaska Museum on-line report. http://www.uaf.edu/museum/herb/howtocoll.html.

Parker, C. L., and D. F. Murray. 1992. Collecting voucher specimens for documentation. Unpublished report prepared for the Alaska Rare Plant Working Group. University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Patton, W. W. Jr., S. E. Box, and D. Grybeck. 1989. Ophiolites and other mafic- ultramafic complexes in Alaska. U. S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 89–648. 27 p.

Patton, W. W. Jr. and T. P. Miller. 1970. Preliminary geologic investigations in the Kanuti River region, Alaska. U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1312-J. 10 p.

Saperstein, L. 2007. Investigation of potentially sensitive plant communities in the Old Dummy Burn, Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, 2006. Unpublished Post-Fire

10 Assessment Plan Progress Report, Treatment Specification #5. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fairbanks, AK. 6 p.

Viereck, L. A., C. T. Dyrness, A. R. Batten, and K. J. Wenzlick 1992. The Alaska vegetation classification. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-286. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland, OR, 278 p.

Young, S. B. 1982. The vegetation of land-bridge Beringia. Pp. 179–191 in D. M. Hopkins et al., editors, Paleoecology of Beringia, Academic Press.

Yurtsev, B. A. 1982. Relics of the xerophyte vegetation of Beringia in northeastern Asia. Pp. 157–177 in D. M. Hopkins et al., editors, Paleoecology of Beringia, Academic Press.

11 Appendix A: Tables

Table 1. Locations of sites visited during 2006 Kanuti NWR sensitive plant, CBI and invasive plant surveys.

Site Latitude Longitude Date Notes 134 66.25224877 -151.6124500 7/13/06 Hill 1606, repeater site Ridge above Kanuti Kilolitna R. 135 65.96611926 -151.8626263 7/13/06 (off Refuge) 136 66.18022199 -151.7386941 7/14/06 Kanuti L. cabin 137 66.4313257 -152.4195259 7/14/06 Bergman cabin; unburned Cabin site, confluence Kanuti 139 66.28467131 -152.3052196 7/14/06 Chalatna and Kanuti R.; unburned 140 66.33048386 -152.0140908 7/14/06 Kaldolyeit L. Kanuti Kilolitna gravel bar; 141 66.17339225 -152.0700085 7/14/06 unburned Ultramafic ridge crest above Kanuti Kilolitna R., near VABM 143 66.01800718 -151.7213910 7/15/06 Dummy Ultramafic ridge above Kanuti 144 66.02118921 -151.7401837 7/15/06 Kilolitna R., near VABM Dummy Ultramafic ridge above Kanuti 145 66.01403575 -151.7263380 7/15/06 Kilolitna R., near VABM Dummy Kanuti Kilolitna gravel bar; 148 66.05561159 -151.9626909 7/16/06 unburned low quartz ridge near Kanuti 149 66.01033263 -151.8606619 7/16/06 Kilolitna R. and VABM Dummy

151 66.23038332 -152.3150051 7/16/06 stabilized dunes near "Dune Lake" granitic outcrops and ridge above 155 66.10464756 -151.3337811 7/17/06 Sithlylemenkat L. non-ultramafic ridge of hill 3040, 156 66.03840153 -151.3696458 7/17/06 south of Sithlylemenkat L. Ultramafic ridge above Kanuti 157 66.01318994 -151.6926034 7/17/06 Kilolitna R., near VABM Dummy Ultramafic ridge above Kanuti 158 66.01308432 -151.6929894 7/17/06 Kilolitna R., near VABM Dummy Hill 1980, ultramafic ridge above 159 66.22899477 -151.1102758 7/18/06 Kanuti R.

12 Appendix B: List of Vascular Plants Collected from the Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge, 13–18 July 2006.

(Hultén or ITIS names, where different, in brackets beneath)

Species name Collection numbers Sites Arctous rubra (Rehder & E.H.Wilson) Nakai & Koidz. [Arctostaphylos rubra] 06-109 155 Armeria scabra Pall. ex Roem. & Schult [America maritima] 06-89 145 Artemisia alaskana Rydb. 06-74 141 Artemisia borealis Pallas 06-92 145 Bupleurum americanum Coult. & Rose 06-83, 06-121 143, 159 Calamagrostis purpurascens R. Br. 06-55 135 Calla palustris L. 06-72 140 Campanula lasiocarpa Cham. 06-113 156 Carex canescens L. 06-73 140 Carex glacialis Mackenzie 06-82 143 Carex lugens Holm 06-107 148 Castilleja hyperborea Pennell 06-120 159 Castilleja raupii Pennell 06-84, 06-115 143, 157 Ceratophyllum demersum L. 06-68 136 Claytonia eschscholtzii Cham. 06-100, 06-116 145, 157 Crepis elegans Hook. 06-106 148 Dianthus repens Willd. 06-75 141 Douglasia ochotensis (Willd. ex Roemer & J.A. Schultes) Hultén 06-111 155 Dryopteris fragrans (L.) Schott 06-110 155 Erigeron acris ssp. politus (Fries) Schinz & R. Keller 06-69 137 Erigeron caespitosus Nutt. 06-60 135 Erigeron hyperboreus Greene 06-101 145 Eritrichium splendens Kearney 06-81, 06-103 143, 145 Festuca lenensis Drobow 06-96, 06-118, 06-128 145, 157, 159 Festuca saximontana Rydb. 06-78 141 Gentianella propinqua (Richards.) J. Gillett ssp. propinqua [Gentiana propinqua ssp. propinqua] 06-88, 06-123 143, 159 Koeleria asiatica Domin 06-56, 06-127 135, 159 arctica (Stev. ex Ser.) Graebn. 06-86, 06-99, 06-114, 06-119 143, 145, 156, 157 Minuartia elegans (Cham. & Schlecht.) Schischkin 06-54, 06-95 135, 145 Minuartia obtusiloba (Rydb.) House 06-63 135 Noccaea arctica (A.E. Porsild) Holub [Thlaspi arcticum] 06-58, 06-85 135, 143 Packera hyperborealis (Greenm.) A. & D. Löve [Senecio hyperborealis] 06-62, 06-91. 06-117 135, 145, 157 Papaver nudicaule ssp. americanum Rändel ex D.F. Murray 06-90 145 Parrya nudicaulis (L.) Boiss. 06-102 145 obtusata (Banks ex Pursh) Lindl. 06-70 139 Poa glauca Vahl 06-105 148

13 Podistera macounii (Coult. & Rose) Mathias & Constance 06-129 159 Rumex acetosa L. 06-93 145 Salix arctica Pallas 06-124 159 Salix glauca L. 06-59 135 Salix rotundifolia Trautv. 06-112 156 Selaginella sibirica (Milde) Hieron. 06-61, 06-98, 06-130 135, 145, 159 Silene ostenfeldii (A.E.Porsild) J.K.Morton 06-122 159 Silene repens Patrin ex Pers. 06-57, 06-87 135, 143 Smelowskia porsildii (Drury & Rollins) Yurtsev 06-53, 06-94, 06-108 135, 145, 155 Stellaria longipes Goldie 06-76 141 Wilhelmsia physodes (Fisch. ex Ser.) McNeill 06-71 139 Woodsia glabella R. Br. ex Richards. 06-97 145

14 Appendix C: Alaska Natural Heritage Program Conservation Rank Definitions for Species.

GLOBAL RANK (Global ranks are based on the world-wide status of a taxon and are assigned by The Natureserve and an international network of Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centers. The following definitions are a rough guide and do not include all the factors considered in assigning ranks.

G1: Critically imperiled globally because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer occurrences, or very few remaining individuals), or because of some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable to extinction. (Critically endangered throughout its range.)

G2: Imperiled globally because of rarity (6 to 20 occurrences) or because of other factors demonstrably making it very vulnerable to extinction throughout its range. (Endangered throughout its range.)

G3: Either very rare and local throughout its range or found locally (even abundantly at some of its locations) in a restricted range (21 to 100 occurrences). (Threatened throughout its range.)

G4: Widespread and apparently secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

G5: Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.

T#: Global rank of the described subspecies or variety.

G#G#: Global rank of species uncertain, best described as a range between the two ranks.

G#Q: Indicates some uncertainty about taxonomic status that might affect global rank.

STATE RANK (State ranks are based on the status of the taxon within a particular state or province. The state ranks for taxa presented in this guide often differ from the ranks for the same taxa in other states or provinces.) The following definitions are a rough guide and do not include all the factors considered in assigning ranks.

S1: Critically imperiled in state because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer occurrences, or very few remaining individuals), or because of some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable to extinction. (Critically endangered throughout in state.)

S2: Imperiled in state because of rarity (6-20 occurrences), or because of other factors making it very vulnerable to extirpation from the state.

S3: Rare or uncommon in the state (typically 21-100 occurrences).

15

Appendix D: Figures

Figure 1. Location of study sites. Figure 2. Artemisia alaskana – Dianthus repens gravel bar community, site 141. Figure 3. Dryas dwarf scrub tundra on ultramafic substrate, site 143. Figure 4. Steppe-like, dry Midgrass-Shrub community on site 145. Figure 5. Steppe-like, dry Midgrass-Shrub community on site 159. Figure 6. Steppe-like, dry Midgrass-Shrub community on site 159. Figure 7. Dry, alpine herb community on ultramafic site 157. Figure 8. Lichen-rich, dry Midgrass-Shrub community on ultramafic site 135. Figure 9. Dryas dwarf shrub tundra on non-ultramafic substrate, site 156. Figure 10. Contact zone of quartz and ultramafic substrate, site 149. Figure 11. Selaginella dominated area of lichen woodland on quartz substrate, site 149. Figure 12. Selaginella sibirica -Polytrichum dominated area of lichen woodland on quartz substrate, site 149. Figure 13. Ultramafic ridge near site 145, showing burned and unburned areas. Figure 14. Ultramafic ridge near site 145, showing burned and unburned areas. Figure 15. Ultramafic ridge near site 145, showing burned and unburned areas.

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Figure 1. Location of study sites.

Figure 2. Artemisia alaskana – Dianthus repens gravel bar community, site 141.

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Figure 3. Dryas dwarf shrub tundra on ultramafic substrate, site 143.

Figure 4. Steppe-like, dry Midgrass-Shrub community on site 145.

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Figure 5. Steppe-like, dry Midgrass-Shrub community on site 159.

Figure 6. Steppe-like, dry Midgrass-Shrub community on site 159.

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Figure 7. Dry, alpine herb community on ultramafic site 157.

Figure 8. Lichen-rich, dry Midgrass-Shrub community on ultramafic site 135.

20

Figure 9. Dryas dwarf shrub tundra on non-ultramafic substrate, site 156.

Figure 10. Contact zone of quartz and ultramafic substrate, site 149.

21

Figure 11. Selaginella dominated area of lichen woodland on quartz substrate, site 149.

Figure 12. Selaginella sibirica -Polytrichum dominated area of lichen woodland on quartz substrate, site 149.

22

Figure 13. Ultramafic ridge near site 145, showing burned and unburned areas.

Figure 14. Ultramafic ridge near site 145, showing burned and unburned areas.

23

Figure 15. Ultramafic ridge near site 145, showing burned and unburned areas.

24