Willapa NWR Phase II Ecological Integrity Assessment Pilot Project
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PROGRAM HERITAGE NATURAL Willapa NWR Phase II Ecological Integrity Assessment Pilot Project Prepared for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service WASHINGTON Pacific Region, Portland, OR Prepared by Rex C. Crawford and F. Joseph Rocchio October 31, 2013 Natural Heritage Report 2013-10 Willapa NWR Phase II Ecological Integrity Assessment Pilot Project October 31, 2013 Prepared for: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Region, Portland Office. Agreement F12AC00449 Prepared by: Rex C. Crawford and F. Joseph Rocchio Natural Heritage Program Washington Department of Natural Rescources Olympia, Washington 98503-1749 ii Table of Contents Table of Tables and Figures........................................................................................................................... v 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1 2. Ecological Integrity Assessment ................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Purpose of the Ecological Integrity Assessment ................................................................................. 3 2.2 Definition of Ecological Integrity ......................................................................................................... 3 2.3 The Ecological Integrity Assessment Approach .................................................................................. 4 3. Vegetation Classification ........................................................................................................................... 6 3.1 Purpose of Vegetation Classification .................................................................................................. 6 3.2 Utility of Vegetation Classification for Assessing Ecological Condition .............................................. 6 3.2.1 Ecological Systems ....................................................................................................................... 6 3.2.2 U.S. National Vegetation Classification ........................................................................................ 6 4. Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) ................................................................................................. 7 5. Methods .................................................................................................................................................... 8 5.1 Sample Selection ................................................................................................................................. 8 5.2 Field Protocol .................................................................................................................................... 10 5.2.1 Sample Location ......................................................................................................................... 10 5.2.2 Classification .............................................................................................................................. 10 5.2.3 Ecological Integrity Assessment ................................................................................................. 11 5.2.4 Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) .................................................................................. 11 5.3 Office Procedures .............................................................................................................................. 11 5.3.1 Classification .............................................................................................................................. 11 5.3.2 Individual Site EIA Condition Scores .......................................................................................... 11 5.3.3. Comprehensive Conservation Plan ........................................................................................... 12 6. Results and Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 13 6.1 Distribution of Sample Points in the NVC Classification ................................................................... 13 6.2 Ecological Integrity Assessment and NVC Groups ............................................................................ 17 6.3 Comprehensive Conservation Plan Objectives (CCP)........................................................................ 32 6. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 36 iii 6.1 Classification ..................................................................................................................................... 36 6.2 Ecological Integrity Assessment ........................................................................................................ 37 7. Lessons Learned for Future Work ........................................................................................................... 37 7. Literature Cited ....................................................................................................................................... 39 8. Appendices .............................................................................................................................................. 41 Appendix A. Ecological Systems and Metric used in Ecological Integrity Assessments ......................... 41 Appendix B. Key to Vegetation at Willapa NWR, Leadbetter Point and South Bay Units. ..................... 43 Appendix C. Group and Alliance Descriptions ........................................................................................ 49 iv Table of Tables and Figures Table 1.Basic Ecological Integrity Ranks ..................................................................................................... 5 Table 2. Ecological Integrity Rank Descriptions .......................................................................................... 5 Table 3. Attributes of Comprehensive Conservation Plan Goal Objectives selected for sampling. ............. 7 Table 4. NVC Classification and number of sites with EIA scores. ........................................................... 13 Table 5. Summary of Overall Ecological Integrity Assessment Rank and Rank Factors for Groups. ....... 25 Table 6. Summary of Overall Ecological Integrity Assessment Rank for Alliances. ................................. 26 Table 7. Summary of Overall Vegetation Condition Rank for Alliances. .................................................. 27 Table 8. Summary of Overall Physiochemical Condition Rank for Alliances. .......................................... 28 Table 9. Summary of Overall Hydrological Condition Rank for Alliances (wetland types only) .............. 30 Table 10. Number of Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) Attribute Assessments per NVC Group. .................................................................................................................................................................... 32 Table 11 . Results of Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) Attribute Assessments.. ......................... 34 Figure 1. Location of Willapa National Wildlife Refuge and Management Units, ...................................... 2 Figure 2. General conceptual model for Ecological Integrity Assessments (EIA). ...................................... 3 Figure 3. Location of EIA Points Sampled at Leadbetter Point. ................................................................... 9 Figure 4. Location of EIA Points Sampled at South Bay ........................................................................... 10 Figure 5. Overall EIA Rank of All Groups. (n= 94) ................................................................................... 17 Figure 6. Overall EIA Rank of G205-Vancouverian Dry Coastal & Lowland (Douglas-Fir, Shore Pine, Madrone) Forest & Woodland Group. (n= 15) ........................................................................................... 18 Figure 7. Overall EIA Rank of G238-North Pacific Maritime Western Redcedar-Western Hemlock Forest Group. (n=4) ............................................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 8. Overall EIA Rank of G239-North Pacific Maritime Sitka Spruce Forest Group. (n=5) ............. 19 Figure 9. Overall EIA Rank of G256-North Pacific Lowland Hardwood-Conifer Swamp Group. (n=8) .. 20 Figure 10. Overall EIA Rank of G322-Vancouverian Lowland Riparian & Wet Slope Shrubland Group. (n=9)) .......................................................................................................................................................... 21 Figure 11. Overall EIA Rank of G498-North Pacific Maritime Coastal Sand Dune Scrub & Herbaceous Vegetation Group (n=7) .............................................................................................................................. 21 Figure 12. Overall EIA Rank of G499-Temperate Pacific Tidal Salt & Brackish Marsh Group. (n=28) .. 22 Figure 13. Overall EIA Rank of G517-Vancouverian Freshwater Coastal Marsh & Meadow Group (n=7) .................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 14. Overall EIA Rank of GNEW-North Pacific Maritime Coastal Sand Dune RUDERAL