Rare and Endangered Plants in the Coos Estuary

Rare and Endangered Plants in the Coos Estuary Silvery Phacelia Summary: Photo: OR Wild • Three plant species in the project area are federally or state Salt Marsh listed as either Threatened or Bird’s Beak Endangered. • Two additional listed species occur just south of the project area; suitable habitat for these species occurs within project boundaries. • Habitat loss is the primary Western Lily reason behind population Pink sand declines for most species. verbena Figure 1. Location of rare and endangered plants in and near the project area. All locations are general sites where populations are known to exist. Data: pink sand verbena – Giles-Johnson and Kaye 2012; salt marsh bird’s beak – Giles-Johnson et al. 2013; western lily – USFWS 2009, SSNERR 2013 Vegetation in the Lower Coos Watershed 11-75 What’s happening? Pink sand verbena Five rare or endangered plant species are Pink sand verbena is listed as Endangered by known or thought to occur within the project the State of Oregon due to small populations area: Pink sand verbena (Abronia umbellata facing numerous threats. It is federally listed breviflora), Salt marsh bird’s beak (Chloropy- as a Species of Concern (see sidebars). ron maritimum palustre, formerly Cordylan- Once occurring from British Columbia to thus maritimus palustris), Silvery phacelia central California, the range for pink sand (Phacelia argentea), western lily (Lilium occi- verbena has shrunk to limited populations dentale), and Wolf’s evening primrose (Oeno- in southern Oregon and northern California. thera wolfii)(Figure 1, Table 1). This data sum- Rittenhouse (1996) described fewer than mary describes the current status and trends 10 populations (groups of reproductive-age of those species in the project area. plants) remaining in Oregon by 1996. Ten years following Rittenhouse’s report, 3-5 “wild” populations remained, varying from year to year (wild populations do not include Table 1. Summary of rare and endangered species with ranges within the project area. Photos: Oregon Department of Agriculture, except western lily (USFWS). 11-76 Vegetation in the Lower Coos Watershed reintroduced/restored plants/populations) (Kaye et al. 2006). Locations within and surrounding the project area that now have populations include the North Spit, and a population at Bastendorff – the population is behind the foredune and Beach State Park (Figure 1). A third site near thus not exposed to winter storm overwash; the mouth of South Slough was surveyed and 2) annual habitat maintenance – the site in 2010 but no individuals were found is in an area occupied by the federally threat- (Giles-Johnson and Kaye 2012). ened western snowy plover and therefore receives annual mechanical treatments to The North Spit population was considered ex- remove European beachgrass (Ammophila tinct until a successful reintroduction from a arenaria). This disturbance regime favors large wild Port Orford population in 1997. The both plovers and pink sand verbena, both of North Spit site now contains the largest popu- which depend upon sparsely vegetated open lation of pink sand verbena in the world (Kaye sand habitats. The North Spit population had et al. 2006). Kaye (2004) described how mul- 1700 plants the first year of reintroduction tiple sites in Oregon were reintroduced with and peaked in 2012 with nearly 350,000 pink sand verbena, but the North Spit was by reproductive individuals (Giles-Johnson and far the most successful because: 1) location Kaye 2012). Vegetation in the Lower Coos Watershed 11-77 Giles-Johnson and Kaye (2012) also describe peaking at ~670,000 individuals in 2012. Since the history of pink sand verbena at the then, the population has begun to slowly Bastendorff site. Despite annual reintroduc- decline. The absence of disturbance, which tions of both seeds and transplants starting allows pickleweed (Salicornia depressa) and in 1995, by 2000 no plants were found at the western marsh-rosemary (Limonium californi- Bastendorff site. After seeding again in 2002, cum) populations to spread, has been poten- 13 individuals were established that year, tially inhibiting salt marsh bird’s beak’s repro- substantially increasing to 110 individuals the ductive success. It should be noted that other following year with no new seeding effort. salt marsh bird’s beak populations (e.g., in The Bastendorff population peaked in 2005 South Slough) remain robust in undisturbed with 536 total plants (410 of which were locations (C. Cornu, pers. comm., 2014). reproductive), but drastically declined to 2 Across its Oregon range, salt marsh bird’s plants in 2010. beak averages about 2,000 individuals for Salt marsh bird’s beak each of 18 remaining populations (Kaye 1991 as cited in Giles-Johnson et al. 2013). Listed as a Species of Concern federally and as Endangered by the State of Oregon, the Silvery phacelia majority of Oregon occurrences of salt marsh Silvery phacelia is considered a Species of bird’s beak occur in the Coos estuary (Ritten- Concern federally and is listed as Threatened house 1996). by the State of Oregon. Of the multiple populations within the project No known occurrences of this species occur area, the largest populations in 1999 were in the project area; however, suitable sandy found near Empire (~25,000 plants) and the bluff habitat (e.g., in South Slough or the Pony Slough (~10,000 plants)(Rittenhouse North Spit) occurs here (SSNERR 2013). Close- 1999)(Figure 1). The population on United by populations exist, the nearest being north States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) of Bandon at the Oregon Dunes Golf Resort land at the North Spit in 2001 was estimated (Kalt 2008). This is also the largest population at 20,000 plants (BLM 2006). Rittenhouse with ~3,000 individuals in 2007 (Kalt 2008). (1999) additionally documented a large population (~3,000 individuals) east of the distant According to Curry (2014), of 36 populations water fleet docks south of the Charleston documented since 1916, only 22 are pre- Bridge (Figure 1). sumed to still exist, all in Oregon. Six new populations have been discovered, also in The North Spit population was damaged by Oregon. The remaining populations are small off-road vehicle use, which led BLM to install (average populations are under 100 plants), traffic barriers. A report by Giles-Johnson et highly fragmented, and most appear to be al. (2013) noted that after protection was declining (Kalt 2008). Small fragmented popu- initiated the species recovered substantially, lations are especially common in areas where 11-78 Vegetation in the Lower Coos Watershed European beachgrass dominates (Rittenhouse (acquired in 2014) which is managed by the 1995 as cited in Curry 2014), suggesting that South Slough Reserve. beachgrass adversely affects this species. Just outside the project boundary, Basten- Western lily dorff Bog (part of Sunset Bay State Park) supported 47 reproductive individual western The western lily is listed as Endangered at lily plants in 2014, and increase from the 10 both the federal and the state level. Except plants found in 1994. The increase can be where otherwise noted, the following infor- partially attributed to habitat maintenance mation comes from USFWS (2014). including the removal and thinning of en- Since its federal listing in 1994, western lily croaching vegetation. In addition to the 47 populations have continued to decline in both reproductive plants counted in the natural numbers and distribution (USFWS 2009). or ‘wild’ population in 2014, over 100 west- Within and near the project area, many ern lilies of all age classes were observed, known populations have been lost (e.g., some the result of augmentation with 173 bulbs in populations at Shore Acres and Sunset Bay 2013 (Brown et al. 2013). Other historic popu- State Park); other populations have grown lations at Sunset Bay State Park appear to (Hauser Bog) or have remained relatively have been lost due to competition from Sitka stable (Bastendorff Bog)(Figure 1). spruce and other species (USFWS 2009). Within the project area, the Hauser Bog pop- Adjacent to Sunset Bay State Park, Shore ulation was recently (2014) estimated at 776 Acres State Park contains several small, reproductive individuals. This total includes declining populations. Although a complete individual plants resulting from 498 bulbs survey was not conducted, only 5 reproduc- planted in 2013 by the Oregon Department of tive plants were observed in 2014, down from Agriculture (ODA) to augment the population. 53 in 2002. Ninety percent of the Hauser Bog is located Wolf’s evening primrose on private property, with the remainder on an Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Wolf’s evening primrose is considered a right-of-way designated as a Special Manage- federal Species of Concern and is listed as ment Area. Threatened by the State of Oregon. Although not known to occur in our project area (the A newly discovered western lily population nearest population occurs in Port Orford), (2013) was documented within the project suitable habitat does exist in the project area area at Indian Point in South Slough (Figure for wolf’s evening primrose. The non-native 1). A cursory population estimate of repro- large-flowered evening primrose (Oenothera ductive and nonreproductive plants indicated glazioviana), considered a major threat to the that the Indian Point site may contain one of native species, does occur in the project area the largest populations in Oregon. The popu- (DeWoody et al. 2008). See Why is it hap- lation resides entirely on state of Oregon land Vegetation in the Lower Coos Watershed 11-79 pening? below for more information on this cially European beachgrass and gorse (Ulex threat. europaeus)(Kalt 2008). Russo et al. 1988 attributed the silvery phacelia’s decline to According to Currin and Meinke (2004), there changes in the orientation of the Oregon were seven known populations of wolf’s eve- coast’s dune field valleys (technically referred ning primrose remaining in Oregon in 2004.

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