1 1. Species: Sphagnum Girgensohnii (Girgensohn's Peatmoss) 2. Status

1. Species: Sphagnum girgensohnii (Girgensohn’s peatmoss)

2. Status: Table 1 summarizes the current status of this species or subspecies by various ranking entity and defines the meaning of the status.

Table 1. Current status of Sphagnum girgensohnii Entity Status Status Definition NatureServe G5 Globally Secure CNHP S1 Critically Imperiled in Colorado fewer than 6 occurrences and / or less than 1000 known individuals Colorado None State List Status USDA Forest None Service USDI FWSb None a Colorado Natural Heritage Program. b US Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service.

The 2012 U.S. Forest Service Planning Rule defines Species of Conservation Concern (SCC) as “a species, other than federally recognized threatened, endangered, proposed, or candidate species, that is known to occur in the plan area and for which the regional forester has determined that the best available scientific information indicates substantial concern about the species' capability to persist over the long-term in the plan area” (36 CFR 219.9). This overview was developed to summarize information relating to this species’ consideration to be listed as a SCC on the Rio Grande National Forest, and to aid in the development of plan components and monitoring objectives.

3. Taxonomy

Sphagnum girgensohnii is accepted as valid by ITIS, NatureServe, the Flora of North America, and the NRCS Plants National Database. Neither Ackerfield (2015) nor Weber and Wittmann (2012) include a treatment of Sphagnum

4. Distribution, abundance, and population trend on the planning unit [12.53.2,3,4]:

Girgensohn’s peatmoss is a globally occurring species with a circumpolar distribution from England to Canada and a disjunct distribution in Colorado. Girgensohn’s peatmoss was unknown from Colorado until 1998 when it was discovered in Geneva Creek Fen on the Pike NF by David Cooper (Cooper et al. 2002). The species has been collected in 4 other locations in Colorado, none of which are on the Rio Grande NF. However, three of the known occurrences are within 11 miles of the Rio Grande boundary on the San Juan NF and GMUG NFs. The iron fen (low pH and high mineral concentrations) habitat of Girgensohn’s peatmoss is known from the Rio Grande, as such it is possible that the species is present on the Rio Grande. There is no trend information for Girgensohn’s peatmoss.

Table 2. Known Occurrence Frequency within the Planning Area (NRIS database) Known Occurrences in the past 20 years 0 Year Last Observed 0

5. Brief description of natural history and key ecological functions [basis for other 12.53 components]:

Girgensohn’s peatmoss is restricted in Colorado to iron fens which are peat accumulating systems fed by groundwater (as opposed to rain or snow) that have a low (acidic) pH and high mineral content. Because of their odd combination of low pH and high mineral content iron fens tend to have unique plant communities that are dominated by sphagnum mosses, one of the sites with Girgensohn’s peatmoss (Chattanooga Fen) has 14 other Sphagnum species. In Colorado iron fens occur in mineral rich areas of the southern mountain areas and iron fens are known from the Rio Grande NF. The five known locations of Girgensohn’s peatmoss are between 9450 and 11,190 ft in elevation.

6. Overview of ecological conditions for recovery, conservation, and viability [12.53 7, 9?, 10, 11, 12] including Threats and Risk Factors:

Girgensohn’s peatmoss appears to be an iron fen specialist in Colorado and its continued existence there is dependent on keeping the hydrological and chemical processes in place that create and maintain iron fens. Fens are susceptible to alterations in the timing and amount of ground water, mining for peat, recreation, and grazing and impacts from the surrounding uplands. Individual Girgensohn’s peatmoss plants are unlikely to be targeted so the threats to the species are mainly from habitat alteration. Anything that could alter the quantity, quality, mineral load, or pH of an iron fen is a threat to Girgensohn’s peatmoss. Small population sizes, rare specialized habitat, and isolated populations are all threats to Girgensohn’s peatmoss in Colorado.

7. Key literature:

Colorado Natural Heritage Program (CNHP). 2015. Element Occurrence Records for Sphagnum girgensohnii. Unpublished data stored on U.S. Forest Service Geographic Information Systems Servers. Compiled onto USFS Servers from CNHP database February 2015.

Cooper, D.J. Andrus, R.E., and Arp, C.D. 2002. Sphagnum balticum in a Southern Rocky Mountain Fen. Madrono 49 (3) 186-188.

Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 19+ vols. New York and Oxford. Sphagnum girgensohnii treatment accessed September 25, 2015 at http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id= 200000805

Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). 2015. Online database. http://www.itis.gov/ Accessed September 25, 2015.

NatureServe, 2015. NatureServe Explorer. Online database. http://explorer.natureserve.org/index.htm Accessed September 25, 2015.

USDA NRCS Plants National Database. 2015. Online database. http://plants.usda.gov/ Accessed September 25, 2015.

8. Map of Known Occurrences and Modeled Suitable Habitat

Figure 1. Species Modeled Habitat and Reported Occurrences.