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(Spiranthes Diluvialis) Monitoring on the South Fork Snake River, Idaho 2005 Ute Ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis) Monitoring on the South Fork Snake River, Idaho: Fourth Year Results Idaho Conservation Data Center Idaho Department of Fish and Game PO Box 25 Boise, Idaho Idaho Conservation Data Center 83707 2006 Bureau of Land Management Idaho Falls District Upper Snake Field Office ABSTRACT Ute ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis) was listed as federally threatened in 1992 because of its geographic rarity and small population sizes, habitat loss and modification, and low reproductive rate. Since 1997, the Idaho Conservation Data Center (IDCDC), U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have cooperatively inventoried the abundance of Ute ladies’-tresses element occurrences (EOs) on public lands along the South Fork Snake River, approximately 31 km northeast of Idaho Falls. In 2001, habitat monitoring transects were established at all Ute ladies’-tresses EOs located on BLM and USFS lands, and re-sampled in 2002 and 2003. In 2005, 22 transects were re-sampled using the same methodology used in prior years. There were 4,392 plants observed, the highest number observed since inventories were initiated. In 2005, the primary threats to Ute ladies’-tresses along the South Fork Snake River were: noxious and invasive weeds, shrub and tree encroachment, loss of soil moisture, recreation, and other human-caused disturbances. The BLM and USFS have been proactive in addressing most of these threats, by releasing biocontrol agents at most EOs; regulating, educating, and patrolling recreation activities; building exclosures and fences; and prioritizing land acquisition and conservation easement agreements. The objectives of this study were to report on: 1) the status of occupied habitat; 2) disturbances or threats to Ute ladies’-tresses EOs; 3) current and proposed management uses within occupied habitat; and 4) conservation actions used, needed, or planned at the Ute ladies’-tresses EOs. KEYWORDS Ute ladies’-tresses, Spiranthes diluvialis, South Fork Snake River, Idaho, monitoring, abundance, rare plant, conservation, management, rare plant habitat, Threatened species i SUGGESTED CITATION Idaho Conservation Data Center. 2006. 2005 Ute ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis) monitoring on the South Fork Snake River, Idaho: fourth year results. Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Boise, Idaho. 36 pp. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... i KEYWORDS .................................................................................................................... i SUGGESTED CITATION .................................................................................................ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................iii LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................iii LIST OF FIGURES..........................................................................................................iii LIST OF APPENDICES...................................................................................................iv INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 STUDY AREA ................................................................................................................. 2 METHODS ...................................................................................................................... 2 RESULTS........................................................................................................................ 8 DISCUSSION................................................................................................................ 13 MONITORING RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................................... 15 MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS .................................................................................. 16 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................................ 17 LITERATURE CITED .................................................................................................... 17 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Abundance of Ute ladies’-tresses EOs along the South Fork Snake River, Idaho (1996-2006).......................................................................................... 20 Table 2. Mean values for habitat attributes calculated for all sample blocks at each transect .......................................................................................................... 21 Table 3. Values for habitat attributes measured at the landscape scale at each transect .......................................................................................................... 26 Table 4. Summary of habitat conditions, threats, and conservation actions accomplished in 2005, for Ute ladies’-tresses EOs on the South Fork Snake River, Idaho......................................................................................... 29 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Map of Ute ladies’-tresses EOs in Idaho ....................................................... 30 Figure 2. Map of Ute ladies’-tresses EO 6 and associated transects 006A, 006B, and 006C....................................................................................................... 31 Figure 3. Map of Ute ladies’-tresses EO 7 and associated transects 005A and 007A . 32 Figure 4. Map of Ute ladies’-tresses EO 1 and associated transect 001A.................... 33 iii Figure 5. Map of Ute ladies’-tresses EO 2 and associated transects 002, 003A, 003B, 009A, 010A, 011A, 011B, 013A, 021A, and 022A .............................. 34 Figure 6. Map of Ute ladies’-tresses EO 14 and associated transects 014A, 016A, 016B, 017B, and 018A .................................................................................. 35 Figure 7. Map of Ute ladies’-tresses EO 4 and associated transects 004A, 004B, and 019A.............................................................................................................. 36 LIST OF APPENDICES Appendix A. Ute ladies’-tresses habitat monitoring checklist ................................. Disc 1 Appendix B. 2005 Ute ladies’-tresses habitat monitoring tally sheets .................... Disc 1 Appendix C. Ute ladies’-tresses transect establishment and environmental description forms ............................................................................... Disc 1 Appendix D. Summary of establishment data and environmental setting of all habitat monitoring transects............................................................... Disc 1 Appendix E. GIS shapefiles showing locations of Ute ladies’-tresses monitoring transects (2001, 2005)....................................................................... Disc 1 Appendix F. GPS points of Ute ladies’-tresses monitoring transects ..................... Disc 1 Appendix G. 2005 Ute ladies’-tresses monitoring photographs.............................. Disc 1 Appendix H. Element occurrence record reports for Ute ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis), sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata), and giant helleborine (Epipactis gigantea)......................................................... Disc 1 Appendix I. 2005 Ute ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis) monitoring on the South Fork Snake River, Idaho: fourth year results (.PDF format)..... Disc 1 iv INTRODUCTION Ute ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes diluvialis) is a federally threatened orchid occurring in northern Colorado, southeastern Idaho, southwestern Montana, western Nebraska, southeastern Nevada, northern and south-central Utah, north-central Washington, and eastern Wyoming (Colket et al. 2006). Ute ladies’-tresses is a long-lived perennial forb that reproduces by seed and possibly by asexual reproduction (Fertig et al. 2005). The primary life stages exhibited are seedling, subterranean dormant, above-ground vegetative, and reproductive. The subterranean dormant stage may persist for as long as 4 or more years before transitioning above-ground stages (Fertig et al. 2005). Ute ladies’-tresses flower between early July and late October. The microscopic seeds are dispersed via wind and water (Sipes and Tepedino 1995, Fertig et al. 2005). These tiny seeds are likely short-lived and their successful germination may be associated with the presence of certain mycorrhizal soil fungi (Hildebrand 1998, McGonigle and Sheridan 2004, Fertig et al. 2005). Ute ladies’-tresses occurs in moist meadow habitats associated with floodplains, oxbows, and stream and river terraces (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Utah, Wyoming); subirrigated or spring-fed abandoned stream channels and valleys (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah); lakeshores (Washington); and human- modified riparian and lacustrine habitats (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Utah, Washington, Wyoming; Fertig et al. 2005). Rangewide, many element occurrences (EOs) are in riparian habitats of wide valley floodplains at the base of mountains where narrow stream reaches become unconfined (Fertig et al. 2005). An EO is a specific geographic location where “a species or natural community is, or was, present” (NatureServe 2002:10). Dominant species associated with Ute ladies’-tresses rangewide include: box elder (Acer negundo), creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera), water birch (Betula occidentalis),
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