7 -12379 12 BIODIVERSITY INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS OF THE HANFORD SITE 1994 Annual Report .. ~ ·.•.rl •• ~ '4:-;"' PREPARED BY THE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF WASHINGTON FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY MAY1995 olOb- lS- 1 Table 3. Bird species of special concern and the habitat in which they were observed on the North Slope and the ALE Reserve, 199 5 North S/01'8 Arid Lands Eco/oav Reserve Federal State Hanford 1995 Habitat n,pes . 1995 Habitat Types Common Name Status Status Status' Status Shb Grs Rd Rec Mfn Rip Riv Status Shb Grs Fld Rec Mfn Rip Can Common Loon Candidate R-w U-wrn X Homed Grebe · Monitor U-w U-m X X Red-necked Grebe Monitor - R-m .. X Western Grebe* Monitor U-r U-s X X Clark's Grebe* Monitor R-m U-s X American White Endangered U-r C-s X Pelican Great Blue Heron• Monitor C-r C-r X X U-r X Great Esrret Monitor R-m U-s X X Black-crowned Night Monitor U-r U-s X R-s Heron• Trumoeter Swan Candidate A-m R-m X Turkev Vulture Monitor A-m R-m X fly-over Osnrev Monitor U-m U-m X X Bald Eagle Threatened Threatened U-w C-w X X Golden Eagle Candidate U-m U-w X X X X X R-s X Swainson's Hawk• Candidate U-s U-s X X X X C-s X Ferruginous Hawk Candidate Threatened R-s R-s X U-s X Peregrine Falcon Endangered Endangered A-m R-ms X X Prairie Falcon• Monitor U-r R-w X X X X X X U-r X l Hanford Status (Landeen et al. 1992) • Breeding confumed on Hanford Site in l 99S Abundance Seasonal Occurrence Habitat Types C: Common ( often seen or heard in appropriate habitat) r: RSident Shb: native shrub Rip: riparian areas U: Uncommon (usually present but not always seen or heard) s: summer visitor (includes spring and fall) Ors: native bunchgrass Riv: riverine (Columbia River• North R: Rare (present in appropriate habitats only in small numbers; w: winter visitor (includes spring and fall) Fld: weedy field dominated by non• Slope only) native annuals seldom seen or heard ) m: migrant Can: dry upper slopes of canyons (ALE Reserve only) A: Accidental (appeared once or twice; well outside its normal range) Rec: recovery following fire or past cultivation Mtn: mountain top (Saddle Mtn., Rattlesnake Mtn.) (Continued on reverse side) ( Continue d on reverse side) Ir (Continued) North Slope Arid Lands Ecoloc,v Reserve Federal State Hanford 1995 Habitat r,,pes 1995 Habitat Types 1 Common Name Status Status Status Status Shb Grs Fld Rec Mtn Rip Riv Status Shb Grs Fld Rec Mtn Rip Can Says Phoebe• Monitor R-s X X X . X C-s X Gray Flycatcher Monitor R-s X Willow Flycatcher Monitor R-m X R-s X Sage Grouse Candidate Candidate R-r R-r? X Sandhill Crane Endangered U-m C-m X X fly-over Black-necked Stilt Monitor A R-sm X Long-billed Candidate Monitor C-s U-s X X X U-s X X Curlew• Casoian Tern Monitor R-s U-s X X fly-over Forster's Tern• Monitor U-s U-s X fly-over Burrowing Owl• Candidate U-s U-s X X U-s X Lewis' Woodpecker Candidate R-m R-s X R-m X Western Bluebird Candidate R-m R X Sage Thrasher• Candidate R-s U-s X U-s X X Lo22erhead Shrike• Candidate Candidate U-s U-s X X X X C-s X X Grasshopper Monitor U-s U-s X X X C-s X X X Sparrow• Sage Sparrow• Candidate U-s C-s X U-s X X I Hanford Status (Landeen et al. 1992) • Breeding confirmed on Hanford Site in I 995 Abundance Seasonal OcCllrftnce Habitat Types C: Common (often seen or heard in appropriate habitat) r. resident Shb: native shrub Rip: riparian areas U: Uncommon (usually present but not always seen or heard) s: summer visitor (includes spring and fall) Ors: native bunchgrass Riv: riverine (Columbia River• North R: Rare (present in appropriate habitats only in small numbers; ~: winter visitor (includes spring and fall) Fld: weedy field dominated by non­ Slope only) seldom seen or heard ) m: migrant native annuals · Can: dry upper slopes of canyons (ALE A: Accidental (appeared once or twice; well outside its normal range) Rec: recovery following fin or past Reserve only) cultivation Min: mountain top (Saddle Min., Rattlesnake Min.) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . ' TableL Hanford Biodiversity Inventory:_ Summary offindings, 1994 and 1995 Elements of Elements of 1994 and 1995 Research Area Areas Surveyed Interest *-1994 Interest *-1995 Combined Totals Plant communities ALE, North Slope, 4 7 occurrences 6 occurrences 53 occurrences part of Central of 8 priority of 1 priority of 9 priority Hanford communities community communities . I Overall, 36 distinct community types identified Rare plants 38,000 acres through- 49 populations of 33 populations of 82 populations of out Hanford Site 14 rare taxa 8 rare taxa 17 rare taxa / 1 taxon new to 2 taxa new to 3 taxa new to science science science 481 total plant taxa identified Birds ALE, North Slope, 31 Species of 3 Species of 33 Species of part of Central Concern Concern Concern Hanford 214 total bird species observed Insects ALE, part of Central Hundreds of rare Hundreds of rare 1000+ species Hanford taxa ••, 8 new to taxa ••, 11 new to documented-many science science rare and 19 new to science Butterflies and Limited - all areas 5 Species of 2 Species of 7 Species of moths Concern Concern Concern 164 total . lepidoptera species documented Reptiles and Limited - all areas None 4 Species of 4 Species of amphibians Concern Concern 12 total herptile species observed • Elements of interest in this table refers to plants, animals or plant communities with formal federal or state status (Endangered, Threatened, Candidate, Sensitive, Species of Concern , Monitor, or Priority Habitat: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1996; Washington Department offish and Wildlife 1996; or Washington Natural Heritage Program 1993 and 1995); or species new to science. • • The "rare" designation for insects is less formal since few such designations exist. I xi BIODIVERSITY INVENTORY AND ANALYSIS OF THE HANFORD SITE 1994 Annual Report Editor Robert J. Pabst Associate Editor/Designer Jan K. Lorey Contributors Kathryn Beck Florence Caplow James R. Dillman Patti A. Ensor Tony Greager David N. Rolph Curt Soper Andrew M. Stepniewski Dennis L. Strenge Gordon Todd David L. Wilderman Richard S. Zack Prepared by The Nature Conservancy of Washington in partial fulfillment of U.S. Department of Energy Grant Award Number DE-FG06-94RL 12858. Additional funding provided by The Nature Conservancy of Washington and The Bullitt Foundation. Na1JJFelJconservancy .. OF WASHINGTON 217 Pine Street, Suite 1100 Seattle, WA 98101 Printed on recycled paper CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................... vii 1.0 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1 1.1 Background 1 1.1.1 History of the Hanford Site 1 1.1.2 The Shrnb-Steppe Ecosystem 1 1.1.3 Climate 2 1.1.4 Physiography 2 1.1.5 Management Areas 2 1.2 The Need for a Biodiversity Inventory 5 1.3 Ownership and Use of Data 5 1.4 Biodiversity Inventory Personnel 6 2.0 PLANT COMMUNITY ECOLOGY ............................................ 7 2.1 Purpose and Scope 7 2.2 Methods 7 2.2.1 Plant Community Classification and Taxonomy 7 2.2.2 Field Inventory 8 2.2.3 Conservation Ranking 9 2.2.4 Mapping 9 2.3 Findings 9 2.4 Further Inventory Needs 12 3.0 RARE PLANT BOTANY ......................................................... 13 3 .1 Purpose and Scope 13 3.2 Methods 13 3.2.1 Pre-field 13 3.2.2 Terminology 13 3.2.3 Field Inventory 14 3.2.4 Post-field 15 3 .3 Findings 15 3.3.1 Overview 15 3.3.2 A New Species 15 3.3.3 Findings by Management Area 16 3.4 Further Inventory Needs 19 111 CONTENTS 4.0 ORNITHOLOGY .................................................................... 21 4 .1 Purpose and Scope 21 4.2 Methods 21 4.2.1 General Transect Swveys 21 4.2.2 Point Counts 22 4.2.3 Habitat Type Designations 22 4.3 Findings 23 4.3.1 Overview 23 4.3.2 Findings by Habitat Type 23 4.3.3 Newly Documented Species at Hanford 28 4.4 Further Inventory Needs 28 5.0 ENTOMOLOGY ..................................................................... 29 5.1 Purpose and Scope 29 5.2 Methods 29 5.3 Findin~ 30 5.3.1 Overview 30 5.3.2 Findings by Insect Order 30 5.3.3 Summary ofFindings 34 5.4 Further Inventory Needs 34 6.0 THE FUTURE OF THE HANFORD SITE BIODIVERSITY INVENTORY ................................................ 37 7 .0 CONCLUSIONS ............................................... ~ ..................... 39 8.0 REFERENCES ....................................................................... 41 9.0 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................ 45 iv CONTENTS TABLES Table 1. Plant community types of the ALE Reserve and North Slope. 11 Table 2. Status, distribution and number of newly found and previously known rare plant populations. 17 Table 3. Bird species of special concern and their habitat. 26 FIGURES Follows page Figure 1. Prominent features and administrative boundaries of the Hanford Site. 2 Figure 2. Plant community types of the ALE Reserve. 10 Figure 3. Plant community types of the North Slope. 10 Figure 4. Rare plant population search areas on the Hanford Site. 14 Figure 5. Number of bird species that were observed in each habitat type On page on the Hanford Site in 1994. 24 PHOTOS Follows page Cover Rattlesnake Mountain and the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve.