VVEGETATION OF THE FFORT RRILEY MMILITARY RRESERVATION,, KKANSAS Craig C. Freeman1 and Jennifer M. Delisle2 1R. L. McGregor Herbarium & Kansas Biological Survey University of Kansas, 2045 Constant Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66047-3729 [email protected] 2Kansas Biological Survey University of Kansas, 2101 Constant Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66047-3759 [email protected] VEGETATION OF THE FORT RILEY MILITARY RESERVATION, KANSAS Cover Photo: Gray Copper (Lycaena dione) on Sullivant’s milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii); Fort Riley Military Reservation, Geary County, Kansas. Photo by Craig C. Freeman, 2003. Report submitted February 27, 2004 Citation: Freeman, C. C. and J. M. Delisle. 2004. Vegetation of the Fort Riley Military Reservation, Kansas. Open-file Report No. 119. Kansas Biological Survey. Lawrence, KS. 110 pp. Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................................................................................... II LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................................................................IV ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................................................................ V CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1. PROJECT BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2. STUDY OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: CURRENT VEGETATION CONDITIONS................................................................................................... 5 2.1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................................................. 5 2.2. METHODS........................................................................................................................................................................... 8 2.3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .............................................................................................................................................. 9 2.4. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................................. 15 CHAPTER 3: PRAIRIE ASSESSMENTS.................................................................................................................................. 19 3.1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................................... 19 3.2. METHODS......................................................................................................................................................................... 23 3.3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................ 25 3.4. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................................. 34 CHAPTER 4: WEED SURVEYS ................................................................................................................................................ 36 4.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................................... 36 4.2 METHODS......................................................................................................................................................................... 38 4.3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................ 38 4.4. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................................. 47 CHAPTER 5: RARE SPECIES .................................................................................................................................................... 49 5.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................................... 49 5.2 METHODS......................................................................................................................................................................... 49 5.3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................................ 50 5.4. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................................................. 50 LITERATURE CITED................................................................................................................................................................... 52 APPENDIX A. PLANTS OF GEARY AND RILEY COUNTIES, KANSAS................................................................... 55 APPENDIX B. NATURAL/NEAR-NATURAL VEGETATION TYPES ON FRMR................................................... 78 APPENDIX C. PLANTS DOCUMENTED IN NATURAL/NEAR-NATURAL VEGETATION COMMUNITIES ON FRMR......................................................................................................................................................................................... 83 APPENDIX D. SEMI-NATURAL/ALTERED VEGETATION TYPES ON FRMR .................................................. 106 APPENDIX E. PLANTED/CULTIVATED VEGETATION TYPES OF FRMR ........................................................ 109 VEGETATION OF THE FT. RILEY MILITARY RESERVATION PAGE i List of Figures FIGURE 1.1. Location of the Ft. Riley Military Reservation (FRMR) and landscape and cultural features referenced in this report...............................................................................................................................................................3 FIGURE 1.2. Training areas on FRMR..........................................................................................................................4 FIGURE 2.1. Vegetation of FRMR based on 1985 vegetation maps ............................................................................17 FIGURE 2.2. Vegetation of FRMR based on surveys conducted in 2002/2003............................................................18 FIGURE 3.1. Summary of evaluation process for estimating viability of conservation targets ......................................20 FIGURE 3.2. Histogram of size for 116 Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairies assessed on FRMR.............................................32 FIGURE 3.3. Histogram of floristic quality index values for 116 Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairies assessed on FRMR ........32 FIGURE 3.4. Scatterplot of size vs. floristic quality index for 116 Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairies assessed on FRMR ......33 FIGURE 3.5. Locations and grades of Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairies on FRMR .............................................................35 FIGURE 4.1. Weed survey form used on FRMR in 2002/2003 ...................................................................................39 FIGURE 4.2. Populations of Carduus nutans documented on FRMR in 2002/2003.......................................................41 FIGURE 4.3. Populations of Lespedeza cuneata documented on FRMR in 2002/2003 ...................................................42 FIGURE 4.4. Populations of Robinia pseudoacacia documented on FRMR in 2002/2003................................................43 FIGURE 4.5. Populations of Sorghum halepense documented on FRMR in 2002/2003 ...................................................44 FIGURE 4.6. Total number of infested acres of Lespedeza cuneata in each of 10 cover classes on FRMR.......................45 FIGURE 4.7. Locations of prairies and infestations of Lespedeza cuneata on FRMR.......................................................46 VEGETATION OF THE FT. RILEY MILITARY RESERVATION PAGE ii List of Tables TABLE 2.1. Framework for categorizing and ranking the degree of “naturalness” of existing vegetation .......................7 TABLE 2.2. Key to vegetation types on FRMR ...........................................................................................................10 TABLE 2.3. Classification of Natural/Semi-natural and Cultural vegetation types known to occur on FRMR..............11 TABLE 3.1. Generalized evaluation matrix for landscape context rating × size grade...................................................21 TABLE 3.2. Generalized evaluation matrix for landscape context/size rating ×