Wheat Ridge Open Space Areas Biological Inventory 2000
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Wheat Ridge Open Space Areas Biological Inventory 2000 Prepared by: David G. Anderson and Joe Stevens Prepared for: City of Wheat Ridge Open Space Wheat Ridge, Colorado Acknowledgments The Colorado Natural Heritage Program would like to thank the City of Wheat Ridge Open Space and the City of Wheat Ridge Parks Board for making this work possible. We also gratefully acknowledge and sincerely thank Margaret Paget for generously contributing her time and expertise to this project. As our primary contact she gave crucial assistance with orienting CNHP biologists within the Greenbelt and Lewis Meadows, and was extremely helpful in assisting with all aspects of this project. John McGuire and Dave Brossman provided the imagery data needed for generating the weed, plant association, rare plant, and animal data layers, and was very helpful. Rick Brune generously contributed his time and expertise with consultation and orientation in the study area, particularly with regards to Spiranthes diluvialis. The University of Colorado and the Colorado State University Herbaria provided important species distribution information. Bryan Behrends and Jeremy Siemers conducted the animal surveys in the study area. Jill Handwerk and Sarah Baumgartner provided valuable assistance in the field with weed mapping. The information management staff with CNHP was responsible for integrating the data resulting from the inventory into the Biological Conservation Datasystem. This effort was performed by Jill Handwerk, Jodie Bell, Jeremy Siemers, Alison Loar, Laurel Potts, and Adam Carheden. Crucial assistance with printing maps for the field and digitizing potential conservation areas and element occurrences was provided by Amy Lavender. Valuable editorial feedback was provided by Jill Handwerk, Beth Van Dusen, Rob Schorr, and Amy Lavender. Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .........................................................................................................................................1 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY AREA......................................................................................................................3 OVERVIEW OF PLANT COMMUNITY ASSEMBLAGES .......................................................................................................4 THE NATURAL HERITAGE NETWORK AND BIODIVERSITY .....................................................................7 WHAT IS BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY? ................................................................................................................................7 COLORADO’S NATURAL HERITAGE PROGRAM...............................................................................................................9 THE NATURAL HERITAGE RANKING SYSTEM...............................................................................................................10 TABLE 1. DEFINITION OF COLORADO NATURAL HERITAGE IMPERILMENT RANKS. ....................................................11 LEGAL DESIGNATIONS .................................................................................................................................................12 TABLE 2. FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCY SPECIAL DESIGNATIONS. ............................................................................12 TABLE 3. WEED RANKING ..........................................................................................................................................13 ELEMENT OCCURRENCE RANKING...............................................................................................................................13 POTENTIAL CONSERVATION AREAS .............................................................................................................................15 POTENTIAL CONSERVATION PLANNING BOUNDARIES..................................................................................................15 OFF-SITE CONSIDERATIONS .........................................................................................................................................16 RANKING OF POTENTIAL CONSERVATION AREAS ........................................................................................................16 PROTECTION URGENCY RANKS....................................................................................................................................17 MANAGEMENT URGENCY RANKS ................................................................................................................................18 METHODS.................................................................................................................................................................19 IDENTIFY TARGETED ELEMENTS OF GLOBAL AND STATE-WIDE CONCERN ..................................................................19 TABLE 4. TARGETED ELEMENTS OF GLOBAL OR STATE-WIDE CONCERN....................................................................20 IDENTIFY TARGETED INVENTORY AREAS.....................................................................................................................21 CONDUCT FIELD SURVEYS FOR NATURAL HERITAGE ELEMENTS ................................................................................21 DELINEATE POTENTIAL CONSERVATION AREAS ..........................................................................................................21 MAPPING PLANT COMMUNITY ASSEMBLAGES.............................................................................................................22 MAPPING AND SAMPLING ANIMALS.............................................................................................................................22 MAPPING WEEDS .........................................................................................................................................................23 RESULTS...................................................................................................................................................................25 PROSPECT PARK POTENTIAL CONSERVATION AREA ....................................................................................................25 West Lake/Bass Lake.............................................................................................................................................28 Clear Creek southeast of Prospect Park................................................................................................................29 Area east of Bass Lake...........................................................................................................................................29 Area of Anderson Park..........................................................................................................................................29 West of Miller Trailhead........................................................................................................................................30 COMMUNITY ASSEMBLAGES MAPPED IN THE CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE OPEN SPACE ....................................................32 FORMATION 10: GRASS - FORB ASSEMBLAGES...........................................................................................................33 FORMATION 20: SHRUB DOMINATED ASSEMBLAGES...................................................................................................38 FORMATION 30: TREE DOMINATED ASSEMBLAGES ....................................................................................................43 FORMATION 40: OTHER LANDCOVER TYPES...............................................................................................................51 WEEDS .........................................................................................................................................................................55 ANIMALS......................................................................................................................................................................61 GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................................................................................65 SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................66 REFERENCES ..........................................................................................................................................................69 APPENDIX 1: UPDATED SPECIES LIST FOR THE WHEAT RIDGE GREENBELT..................................72 APPENDIX 2: COMMUNITY CHARACTERIZATION ABSTRACTS ............................................................84 MAPS OF THE CITY OF WHEAT RIDGE GREENBELT AND LEWIS MEADOWS ................................115 Executive Summary In April 2000, the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP) was contracted by the City of Wheat Ridge to assess the natural heritage values and map vegetation types, selected weed species, rare plants, and selected animal species throughout the City of Wheat Ridge Greenbelt and Lewis Meadows. These areas are referred to collectively as "the study area" throughout this report. Field work for this project was completed during the summer and fall of 2000. The goals of the project were to identify locations in the study area with natural heritage significance, generate a map of plant community assemblages, selected weeds, and selected animals, and offer suggestions for managing the biological resources of the study area. Areas of natural heritage