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Ecological Sustainability Report

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Ecological Sustainability Report United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Southwestern Region Coronado National Forest February 2009 Ecological Sustainability Report Coronado NF Ecological Sustainability Report Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 Ecological Attributes .................................................................................................................. 2 Ecoregions, Provinces, Sections, and Subsections............................................................ 2 Contribution to Ecosystem Sustainability ............................................................................ 5 Ecosystem Diversity................................................................................................................... 6 Vegetation ................................................................................................................................6 Vegetation Communities........................................................................................................ 6 Vegetation Conditions and Trends ........................................................................................ 8 Soils........................................................................................................................................ 12 Soil Types............................................................................................................................ 12 Soil Conditions and Trends.................................................................................................. 12 Water Quality and Water Quantity ....................................................................................... 15 Sub-basins and Watersheds................................................................................................ 15 Water Quality Conditions and Trends.................................................................................. 15 Water Quantity Conditions and Trends................................................................................ 17 Riparian Systems .................................................................................................................. 18 Riparian Vegetation ............................................................................................................. 18 Channel Morphology............................................................................................................ 18 Riparian Area Conditions and Trends.................................................................................. 18 Air Quality .............................................................................................................................. 19 Air Quality Conditions and Trends....................................................................................... 20 Sustainability Discussion: Ecosystem Diversity................................................................ 21 Vegetation ........................................................................................................................... 21 Soils..................................................................................................................................... 23 Water Quality....................................................................................................................... 23 Water Quantity..................................................................................................................... 23 Riparian Systems................................................................................................................. 23 Air Quality ............................................................................................................................ 24 Species Diversity ...................................................................................................................... 24 Wildlife, Fish, and Rare Plants ............................................................................................. 24 Threatened Species, Species-of-Concern, and Species-of-Interest.................................... 24 Habitats ...............................................................................................................................25 Species-Habitat Associations .............................................................................................. 26 Existing Condition................................................................................................................ 28 Sustainability Discussion: Wildlife, Fish, and Rare Plants ............................................... 29 References................................................................................................................................. 31 Appendix A: Vegetation Communities Descriptions, Conditions and Trends, and Risk Assessments............................................................................................................. 33 Appendix B: Generalized Terrestrial Ecosystem Survey Descriptions and Maps.............. 70 Appendix C: Sub-basins (HUC4) and percentages of riparian areas within Coronado NF boundaries......................................................................................................... 87 Appendix D: Threatened and Endangered Species, Coronado National Forest................. 88 Coronado NF Ecological Sustainability Report Appendix E: Species-of-Concern, Coronado National Forest.............................................. 90 Appendix F: Species-of-Interest, Coronado NF ................................................................... 102 Appendix G: Ecosystem Management Areas Species-habitat Association Matrices ................................................................................................................................... 106 Appendix I: Invasive Species................................................................................................. 118 ii Coronado NF Ecological Sustainability Report Introduction The purpose of this report is to profile the ecological environment of the Coronado National Forest (NF) and the surrounding area (figure 1). This information will serve as a baseline to evaluate the existing Land and Resource Management Plan for the Coronado NF, 1986 as amended (hereinafter referred to as the forest plan) to determine if parts of the forest plan need to change. It will do so by facilitating a better understanding of the relationship between National Forest System lands and resources administered by the Coronado NF in the context of the broader ecological environment. This will aid in the identification of specific forest plan elements capable of responding to ecological trends. The report is organized into two main sections, ecosystem diversity and species diversity. The ecosystem diversity discusses conditions and trends in the vegetation communities and physical resources. Wildlife, fish, rare plants, and their habitats are discussed in the species diversity section. Figure 1. Location of the Coronado National Forest 1 Coronado NF Ecological Sustainability Report Ecological Attributes The Coronado NF has twelve mountain ranges (also termed Ecosystem Management Areas, or EMAs), often referred to as “sky islands”. Sky islands are isolated mountain ranges that rise above the deserts and grasslands throughout southern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and northwestern Mexico. With elevations ranging from about 3,000 feet to 10,720 feet, these sky islands tower above the intervening seas of grass and desert. While each of the sky islands has similar, if not common, geologic histories, each is unique in many ways. The ecological attributes of the Coronado NF are described here in the context of the broader landscape, by examining subsections in the national ecological hierarchy, and in the context of the various ecological communities and processes that are represented within the boundaries of the Coronado NF. Ecoregions, Provinces, Sections, and Subsections Ecoregions are ecosystems of regional extent. As described by Bailey (1983) ecoregions distinguish areas that share common climatic and vegetation characteristics (Cleland et al.., 1997). Ecoregions are sub-divided into provinces, which are controlled primarily by continental weather patterns such as length of dry season and duration of cold temperatures. Provinces are also characterized by similar soil orders. Sections are a subdivision of provinces, described by broad areas of similar subregional climate, geomorphic process, stratigraphy, geologic origin, topography, and drainage networks. Such areas are often inferred by relating geologic maps to potential natural vegetation “series” groupings such as those mapped by Kuchler (1964). Most of the Coronado NF is contained in the Chihuahuan Semi-Desert Province (Province 321)/ Chihuahuan Desert Basin and Range Section (Section 321A). A very small fraction of the forest represents the American Semi-desert and Desert Province (Province 322)/Sonoran Desert Section (Section 322B). A description of the two province/section combinations represented on the Coronado NF taken from McNab, et al. (2005) follows: Province 321: Chihuahuan Semi-desert Province/Section 321A: Chihuahuan Desert- Basin and Range The province is characterized by a subtropical arid climate of short winters and long, hot summers and includes isolated embedded areas of mountain climates of cooler
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