CORONADO NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT INDICATOR SPECIES POPULATION STATUS AND TRENDS United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service – Southwestern Region Coronado National Forest TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 4 Regulatory Context ..................................................................................................................... 4 Management Indicator Species Selection ................................................................................... 4 Occupied habitats. ................................................................................................................... 8 Monitoring requirements. ....................................................................................................... 9 MIS/habitat relationships. ....................................................................................................... 9 Monitoring ........................................................................................ 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Standards and Guidelines. ........................................................................................................... 9 Population viability ................................................................................................................... 10 Species Evaluations ..................................................................................................................... 12 Birds .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Elegant Trogon (Trogon elegans) ......................................................................................... 13 Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher (Myiodynastes luteiventris). ...................................................... 16 Other Primary and Secondary Cavity Nesters. ..................................................................... 18 Northern Gray Hawk (Asturina nitida maxima) ................................................................... 20 Blue-throated hummingbird (Lampornis clemenciae). ......................................................... 22 Rose-throated Becard (Pachyramphus aglaiae) ................................................................... 23 Thick-billed Kingbird (Tyrannus crassirostris).................................................................... 24 Northern Beardless Tyrannulet (Camptostoma imberbe) ..................................................... 26 Bell’s vireo (Vireo bellii) ...................................................................................................... 28 Merriam’s Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo merriami). ........................................................... 30 Gould’s Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo mexicana) ................................................................ 32 Buff-breasted Flycatcher (Empidonax fulvifrons) ................................................................ 34 Montezuma (Mearns’) Quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae mearnsi) ........................................... 37 Baird’s Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii) .............................................................................. 41 American Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum) ...................................................... 43 Five-striped sparrow (Aimophila quinquestriata) ................................................................. 45 Mammals................................................................................................................................... 47 Black Bear (Ursus americanus) ............................................................................................ 47 White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus couesi). ............................................................ 49 Revised and updated: July 2004Pronghorn Antelope (Antilocapra americana) .................. 51 Pronghorn Antelope (Antilocapra americana) ..................................................................... 52 Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis Canadensis deserti) ................................................................. 54 Mount Graham red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus grahamensis) ................................. 56 Reptiles ..................................................................................................................................... 59 Desert massassauga (Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii) ........................................................... 59 Arizona Ridge-nosed Rattlesnake (Crotalus willardi willardi) ............................................ 60 Twin-spotted Rattlesnake (Crotalus pricei) .......................................................................... 62 Amphibians ............................................................................................................................... 63 Western Barking Frog (Eleutherodactylus augusti cactorum) ............................................. 63 Mountain Tree Frog (Hyla wrightorum) ............................................................................... 64 Sonora Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum stebbinsi) ................................................. 66 Tarahumara frog (Rana tarahumarae).................................................................................. 68 Fish ............................................................................................................................................ 70 Mexican stoneroller (Campostoma ornatum) ....................................................................... 70 Apache (Arizona) trout (Oncorhynchus apache) .................................................................. 72 Gila topminnow (Poeciliopsis occidentalis occidentalis)..................................................... 73 Gila chub (Gila intermedia) .................................................................................................. 75 Sonora chub (Gila ditaenia).................................................................................................. 76 Spikedace (Meda fulgida) ..................................................................................................... 78 LITERATURE CITED .............................................................................................................. 79 3 Introduction Regulatory Context The role of management indicator species (MIS) in National Forest planning is described in the 1982 implementing regulations for the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) of 1976. These regulations require that certain vertebrate and/or invertebrate species present in the area be identified as MIS and that they be selected because “their population changes are believed to indicate the effects of management activities” (36 CFR 219.19(a)(1). The Forest Service Manual (FSM) defines management indicators as “Plant and animal species, communities or special habitats selected for emphasis in planning, and which are monitored during forest plan implementation in order to assess the effects of management activities on their populations and the populations of other species with similar habitat needs which they may represent.” (FSM 2620.5). The NFMA regulations identify five categories of species that may be considered, where appropriate, as management indicator species: Endangered and threatened plant and animal species identified on State and Federal lists for the area. Species with special habitat needs that may be influenced significantly by planned management programs. Species commonly hunted, fished or trapped Nongame species of special interest Plant and animal species selected because their population changes are believed to indicate the effects of management activities on other species of selected major biological communities or on water quality. Section 219.19(a)(6) requires that “Population trends of the management indicator species will be monitored and relationships to habitat changes determined. This monitoring will be done in cooperation with State fish and wildlife agencies to the extent practicable.” In order to meet the spirit and intent of the planning regulations, thirty-three Management Indicator Species and one group - primary and secondary cavity nesters - in eight indicator groups were identified in the Coronado National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan adopted in 1986 (U.S. Forest Service 1986: 128-129). The sections of this document that follow describe the process for selection of MIS on the Coronado National Forest (CNF), summarize monitoring information for these species and, where possible, asses their status and utility as MIS after 16 years of Forest Plan implementation. Species accounts are updated periodically as additional monitoring information becomes available. Management Indicator Species Selection The Coronado National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) was adopted in 1986. The process for selecting management indicator species is described in the Wildlife and Fish chapter of the Coronado National Forest Analysis of the Management Situation (USFS 1982) on file in the Coronado National Forest Supervisor’s Office. Table 1 and Table 2 display management indicator species by indicator group. According to the records on file, only a single species – Bell’s vireo – and cavity nesters as a group were considered suitable for selection as indicators whose population changes could be used to