Great Basin Naturalist Volume 56 Number 2 Article 16 4-29-1996 Full Issue, Vol. 56 No. 2 Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn Recommended Citation (1996) "Full Issue, Vol. 56 No. 2," Great Basin Naturalist: Vol. 56 : No. 2 , Article 16. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/gbn/vol56/iss2/16 This Full Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Basin Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. T H E GREAT BASIN naturalistNATURALtstIST A VOLUME 56 n2na 2 APRIL 1996 BRIGHAM YOUNG university GREAT BASIN naturalist editor assistant editor RICHARD W BAUMANN NATHAN M SMITH 290 MLBM 190 MLBM PO box 20200 PO box 26879 brigham young university brigham young university provo UT 84602020084602 0200 provo UT 84602687984602 6879 8013785053801 378 5053 8013786688801 378 6688 FAX 8013783733801 378 3733 emailE mail nmshbllibyuedunmshbll1byuedu associate editors MICHAEL A BOWERS PAUL C MARSH blandy experimental farm university of center for environmental studies arizona virginia box 175 boyce VA 22620 state university tempe AZ 85287 J R CALLAHAN STANLEY D SMITH museum of southwestern biology university of department of biology new mexico albuquerque NM university of nevada las vegas mailing address box 3140 hemet CA 92546 las vegas NV 89154400489154 4004 JEFFREY J JOHANSEN PAUL T TUELLER department of biology john carroll university department of environmental resource sciences university heights OH 44118 university of nevada reno 1000 valley road reno NV 89512 BORIS C kondratieff department of entomology colorado state ROBERT C WHITMORE university fort collins CO 80523 division of forestry box 6125 west virginia university Morganmorgantowntown WV 26506612526506 6125 editorial board berranjerran T flinders chairman botany and range science duke S rogers zoology wilford M hess botany and range science richard R tolman zoology all are at brigham young university ex officio editorial board members include steven L taylor college of biology and agriculture H duane smith director monte L bean life science museum richard W baumann editor great basin naturalist the great basin naturalist founded in 1939 is published quarterly by brigham young university unpublished manuscripts that further our biological understanding of the great basin and surrounding areas in western north america are accepted for publication subscriptions annual subscriptions to the great basin naturalist for 1996 are 25 for individual sub- scriscribersbers 30 outside the united states and 50 for institutions the price of single issues is 12 all back issues are in print and available for sale all matters pertaining to subscriptions back issues or other busi- ness should be directed to the editor great basin naturalist 290 MLBM PO box 20200 brigham young university provo UT 84602020084602 0200 scholarly exchanges libraries or other organizations interested in obtaining the great basin naturalist through a continuing exchange of scholarly publications should contact the exchange librarian 6385 HBLL PO box 26889 brigham young university provo UT 84602688984602 6889 editorial production staff joanne abel technical editor jan spencer assistant to the editor copyright 0 1996 by brigham young university ISSN 001736140017 3614 official publication date 29 april 1996 4964 96 750 17922 the great basin naturalist PUBLISHED AT PROVO UTAH BY BRIGHAM YOUNG university ISSN 001736140017 3614 VOLUME 56 30 APRIL 1996 no 2 great basin naturalist 562 0 1996 appp 95 118 SELECTING wilderness AREAS TO CONSERVE UTAHS biological DIVERSITY diane W Davidson 1 william D Newmark2 jack W sites jrjrejr33 dennis K Shiozawa3 eric A Rickart 2 kimball T harper4harpere and robert B keiter5 ABSTRACT congress is currently evaluating the wilderness status of bureau of land management BLM public lands in utah wilderness areas play many important roles and one critical role is the conservation of biological diver- sity we propose that objectives for conserving biodiversitybiodiversity on BLM lands in utah be to 1 ensure the longtermlong term popu- lation viability of native animal and plant species 2 maintain the critical ecological and evolutionary processes upon which these species depend and 3 preserve the full range of communities successional stages and environmental gra- dients to achieve these objectives wilderness areas should be selected so as to protect large contiguous areas augment existing protected areas buffer wilderness areas with multiple use public lands interconnect existing protected areas with dispersal and movement corridors conserve entire watersheds and elevational gradients protect native communi- ties from invasions of exotic species protect sites of maximum species diversity protect sites with rare and endemic species and protect habitats of threatened and endangered species we use a few comparatively well studied taxa as examples to highlight the importance of particular BLM lands key words wilderness diversitybiobiodiversity conservation utah bureau of land management endemic species exotic species cryptocryptobioticbiotic soils plants bees vertebrates THE wilderness ACT AND biodiversityBIO DIVERSITY historical value 16 US code 1131 cac41c4 ecological concerns have also figured promi- in the wilderness act of 1964 congress nently in several congressional wilderness endorsed the preservation of federal land in its bills for bureau of land management BLM natural state 16 US code sections 1131 36 public lands both the alaska national interest congress plainly anticipated that ecological lands conservation act 16 US code 3101 considerations were an important dimension b and the california desert protection act of the wilderness concept since the act pro- 103 public law 433 section 2 b 1 B 1994 vides that wilderness may contain ecological expressly acknowledge that wilderness designa- features of scientific educational scenic or tion is intended to protect important ecological idepartmentepaitment of biology university of utah salt lake city UT 84112 2utahbutahtah museum of natural history university of utah salt lake city UT 84112 department of zoology brigham young university provo UT 84602 department4department of botany brigham young university provo UT 84602 5c1legescollegeSC ollege of law university of utah salt lake city UT 84112 95 96 GREAT BASIN naturalist volume 56 values among the significant ecological func- d tions of wilderness areas is their role in con- serving biological diversity diversitybiobiodiversity loo100 km in utah undeveloped public lands admin- istered by the BLM fig 1 can potentially P play a key role in conserving the state s natural heritage the BLM is now pursuing an ecosys- tem management policy designed to ensure a sustainable ecological processes and biological diversity on lands under its jurisdiction depart- ment of the interior 1994 by using these same criteria to designate wilderness areas congress could not only advance the BLM s ecosystem management goals but also reduce conflict over the agency s multiple use lands 1aaa ege g by diminishing the risk of future endan- T gered species listings and the accompanying regulatory limitations over the long term it is both cheaper and easier to protect species in aggregate in their intact functioning ecosys- tems than to conserve them individually in fragmented and decimated populations under the endangered species act fig 1 map of the state of utah showing in black loca- proposed for BLM short the use of biological and ecologi- tions of all existing roadless areas in wilderness status the BLM formally studied a subset of cal criteria to designate BLM wilderness areas these areas and recommended a portion of studied lands in utah is consistent with the legal concept of for wilderness status data are from a department of inte- wilderness and would help to avoid future rior map of BLM wilderness study areas BLM proposed s BLM management wilderness and the utah wilderness coalition conflicts over resource wilderness proposal county boundaries also are shown isolated mountain ranges in utah s western deserts are biodiversityBIODIVERSITY DEFINED identified as follows a deep creek b fish springs c house range and d newfoundland range not for- designation on biological diversity the variety of life in a mally proposed or studied for wilderness the colorado plateau e the henry mountains given area includes three hierarchical com- ponents genetic diversity species diversity and ecosystem diversity ege g national research sity consists of the variety of major ecological council 1978 wilson 1988 reid and miller communities within areas that are heteroge- 1989 raven 1992 genetic diversity refers to neous in their physical attributes for example the variety of genes within species depletion in elevation or soil type of genetic diversity during population bottle- genetic species and ecosystem diversity necks or because of inbreeding within frag- all result from both interactions between organ- mented and isolated populations can threaten isms and their environments and interactions a species survival by reducing the capacity of of organisms with one another the physical organisms to adapt to changing environments environment sets limits on which species can souiesoule and wilcox 1980 frankel and soulesouie inhabit an area and interactions among those 1981