National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Vascular Plant Inventory of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCCN/NRTR—2010/346 ON THE COVER Photo looking south from the Prairie Overlook across the mosaic of farm fields, prairie, and forests in EBLA. Photo courtesy of National Park Service. Vascular Plant Inventory of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCCN/NRTR—2010/346 Regina M. Rochefort North Cascades National Park Service Complex 810 State Route 20 Sedro-Woolley, Washington 98284 June 2010 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Program Center publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Technical Report Series is used to disseminate results of scientific studies in the physical, biological, and social sciences for both the advancement of science and the achievement of the National Park Service mission. The series provides contributors with a forum for displaying comprehensive data that are often deleted from journals because of page limitations. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. This report received informal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. This report is available from The North Coast and Cascades Network (http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/nccn/) and the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/NRPM). Please cite this publication as: Rochefort, R. M. 2010. Vascular plant inventory report of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NCCN/NRTR—2010/346. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 484/103721 June 2010 ii Contents Page Figures..............................................................................................................................................v Tables ............................................................................................................................................ vii Appendixes .................................................................................................................................... ix Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgments......................................................................................................................... xii Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Methods............................................................................................................................................5 Results ..............................................................................................................................................7 Discussion ......................................................................................................................................11 Literature Cited ..............................................................................................................................13 iii Figures Page Figure 1. Map illustrating the location of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve within the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN) of Parks. ...................................3 Figure 2. Map illustrating natural areas that were the focus of the inventory. ................................5 Figure 3. View of area inventoried for the 2004 Botany Forays .....................................................8 Figure 4. Dr. David Giblin, Molly Bernstein, and Barbara Williams collecting plants on the Botany Foray ..............................................................................................................8 Figure 5. Golden Paintbrush (Castilleja levisecta), a Federally Threatened species that grows within EBLA. .................................................................................................................9 v Tables Page Table 1. Summary of documentation type and rate by inventory stage. ..........................................7 Table 2. Summary of vascular plant species documented by the inventory. ...................................7 vii Appendixes Page Appendix A. Checklist of Forbs of EBLA .....................................................................................15 Appendix B. Checklist of Graminoids of EBLA ...........................................................................23 Appendix C. Checklist of Shrubs and Vines of EBLA ..................................................................25 Appendix D. Checklist of Trees of EBLA .....................................................................................27 ix Executive Summary A vascular plant inventory was conducted within Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (EBLA) between 2002 and 2005. Inventory methods included data mining and field surveys. The data mining component consisted of bibliographic searches for reports documenting plant species presence and herbarium searches for specimens collected within EBLA. Field surveys, called “Botany Forays”, were conducted by experienced volunteers organized by the University of Washington to find and collect new plant specimens from EBLA. Initially, the reserve had a species list of 182 species, all of which had been verified by observation or field study. During the course of the inventory, data mining located 8 herbarium specimens verifying 7 species. During the four Botany Forays 305 specimens were collected, documenting 221 species. The vascular plant species list at the conclusion of the EBLA inventory included 374 species with 61% verified by voucher specimen and the remaining 39% verified by observation or scientific study. xi Acknowledgments Ronald Holmes and Lise Grace input all data into the NPSpecies database and conducted quality checks of all data. Allen McCoy developed the maps used in this report and Joe Oelfke assisted with the summary tables. Chris Chappell shared species observations that he had collected within EBLA. Dr. David Giblin of the University of Washington supervised the Botany Forays to collect vouchers specimens of species in EBLA. Many volunteers collected, identified, and mounted the herbarium specimens. Ben Legler (UW) and Peter Dunwiddie (The Nature Conservancy) assisted Dr. Giblin in leading the forays and they were accompanied by: Molly Bernstein, Pat Chiarelli, Katie Glew, Jesse Johansen, Joe Johansen, Don Knoke, Sharon Rodman, Leigh Smith, Jim Somers, Cindy Spurgeon, Jeff Walker, Barbara Williams, Peter Zika, and Susan Zwinger. xii Introduction Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (EBLA) was established in 1978 to preserve and protect a rural community on Whidbey Island. The Reserve is located on central Whidbey Island, approximately 45 miles north of Seattle, at the extreme northern end of Puget Sound. To the east are the North Cascades; north and south are miles of islands, coves, and bays; southwest lie the Olympic Mountains (Figure 1). Whidbey Island varies from 1 to 10 miles in width and offers a rare combination of forests, prairies, and seascapes. A major force in the creation of this landscape was the Pleistocene glacial retreat about 13,000 years ago. The retreating ice left glacial moraines, gravel, sand, and clay. Natural forces continue to erode the beach bluffs and transport sand along the shores. The historical landscape of the reserve today looks much like it did a century ago – a mosaic of farms, forests, and century old buildings and homes. The site encompasses 25 square miles (17,400 acres) and includes federal, state, county, and private property. The National Park Service's primary mission is to conserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment of this and future generations. In 1992, the National Park Service's (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program identified a list of candidate elements and processes for initial inventory in all natural resource parks, proposed the establishment of prototype inventory and monitoring parks, and outlined national implementation guidelines. The National Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998 recognized the need for good scientific information to manage parks. The act mandated a "program of inventory and monitoring of National Park System resources to establish baseline information and to provide information on the long-term trends in the condition of National