National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science A Natural Resource Condition Assessment for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Appendix 14 – Plants of Conservation Concern Natural Resource Report NPS/SEKI/ NRR—2013/665.14 In Memory of Rebecca Ciresa Wenk, Botaness ON THE COVER Giant Forest, Sequoia National Park Photography by: Brent Paull A Natural Resource Condition Assessment for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks Appendix 14 – Plants of Conservation Concern Natural Resource Report NPS/SEKI/ NRR—2013/665.14 Ann Huber University of California Berkeley 41043 Grouse Drive Three Rivers, CA 93271 Adrian Das U.S. Geological Survey Western Ecological Research Center, Sequoia-Kings Canyon Field Station 47050 Generals Highway #4 Three Rivers, CA 93271 Rebecca Wenk University of California Berkeley 137 Mulford Hall Berkeley, CA 94720-3114 Sylvia Haultain Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks 47050 Generals Highway Three Rivers, CA 93271 June 2013 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado, publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics. These reports are 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 Report Series is used to disseminate high-priority, current natural resource management information with managerial application. The series targets a general, diverse audience, and may contain NPS policy considerations or address sensitive issues of management applicability. 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 document contains subject matter expert interpretation of the data. The authors of this document are responsible for the technical accuracy of the information provided. The parks refrained from providing substantive administrative review to encourage the experts to offer their opinions and ideas on management implications based on their assessments of conditions. Some authors accepted the offer to cross the science/management divide while others preferred to stay firmly grounded in the presentation of only science-based results. While the authors‘ interpretations of the data and ideas/opinions on management implications were desired, the results and opinions provided do not represent the policies or positions of the parks, the NPS, or the U.S. Government. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report 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 U.S. Government. This report is available in digital format from the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). Please cite this publication as: Huber, A., A. Das, R. Wenk, and S. Haultain. 2013. A natural resource condition assessment for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks: Appendix 14 – plants of conservation concern. Natural Resource Report NPS/SEKI/NRR—2013/665.14. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 102/121073, June 2013 ii Contents Page Figures........................................................................................................................................... vii Tables ............................................................................................................................................. ix Scope of analysis............................................................................................................................. 1 Critical questions ............................................................................................................................ 3 1. What are the special status plants known to occur in SEKI? ...................................................... 3 Data sources and types used in analysis ......................................................................................... 3 Data sources used to determine the special status plants in SEKI ........................................... 3 Rare or threatened plants .................................................................................................... 4 Regionally endemic plants .................................................................................................. 5 Taxonomic and nomenclatural changes .............................................................................. 7 Data sources used to determine the distribution of special status plants ................................. 7 Descriptions of data sources ............................................................................................. 11 Data sources used to assess the condition of special status plants ........................................ 13 Imperilment rankings and endemism: Data available for analysis ................................... 13 Trend assessment: Data available for analysis .................................................................. 13 Rarity in the parks: Data available for analysis ................................................................ 14 Data sources used to determine what is known about the NRCA-Identified stressors on special status plants ............................................................................................ 15 Reference conditions ..................................................................................................................... 17 Existing knowledge: Special status plant list ......................................................................... 17 Jones & Stokes special status plant list - 2003 ................................................................. 17 Spatial and condition analyses ...................................................................................................... 21 Unweighted spatial patterns of richness ........................................................................... 26 Weighted spatial patterns of richness ............................................................................... 34 iii Contents (continued) Page Analysis of richness by vegetation type and elevation ..................................................... 40 Condition analyses ................................................................................................................. 47 Imperilment rankings and endemism ................................................................................ 47 Temporal analysis: Trend assessment ............................................................................... 47 Rarity in the parks ............................................................................................................. 48 Analysis uncertainty...................................................................................................................... 51 Number of special status plant taxa ....................................................................................... 51 Endemism assignments .......................................................................................................... 51 Interactions with other focal resources ......................................................................................... 53 Stressors ........................................................................................................................................ 53 Air quality .............................................................................................................................. 53 Land use/fragmentation ......................................................................................................... 53 Proximity to trails, roads and other infrastructure ............................................................ 53 Stock use in meadows ....................................................................................................... 55 Climate change ...................................................................................................................... 58 Direct effects ..................................................................................................................... 58 Indirect effects .................................................................................................................. 61 Conclusions and future research needs ............................................................................. 61 Invasive species ..................................................................................................................... 68 Altered fire regimes ............................................................................................................... 69 Fire return interval departure analysis .............................................................................. 69 Fire effects literature review ............................................................................................. 72 Disease paradigms ................................................................................................................