2016 NaMItuSSOURIral AreVolume 16,as Number 1 N E W S L E T T E R “…identifying, designating, managing and restoring the best remaining examples of natural communities and geological sites encompassing the full spectrum of Missouri’s natural heritage” bust ground cover of native grasses and sedges Editor’s Note (the result of an active fire regime) blanketed Missouri’s Waters large areas of the minimally developed watershed which helped to make the waters rich with aquatic n the summer of 2003, I experienced my invertebrates and smallmouth bass. I became first canoe trip on a clear, fast moving Mis- hooked on paddling Ozark rivers after that first souri Ozark stream. The Niangua River from IBennett Spring to Prosperine, a good twelve mile experience, one that helped me make a decision to float, was breathtaking. While most of the land relocate to Missouri from Louisiana. surrounding this part of the Niangua River is Since 2003, this stretch of the Niangua River privately owned, healthy woodlands with a ro- has become home to many more canoe outfitters, Late July on the Niangua River Photo by Allison J. Vaughn Vol. 16, No. 1, 2016 • Missouri Natural Areas Newsletter 1 campground and lodging developments, NATURAL AREAS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE and grazing along the riverbanks. To add to the threats to the river’s natural qual- Dark Hollow ity, in recent years, flood events occur more Spring Creek Ranch Lincoln Hills frequently which results in heavy nutrient Paintbrush Prairie loading and sedimentation. The Niangua River LaBarque Creek I floated in 2003 is markedly different from the Brickey Hills same stretch I floated after the 10-inch rain event Golden Prairie Sunklands that occurred in December 2015. Water quality Alley Spring remains a high priority for citizens of Missouri as Big Spring evidenced by the thriving Stream Team program and the throngs of water quality volunteers who CONTENTS assist state and federal agencies in monitoring LaBarque Creek’s Small, But Mighty Conservation our waterways. This issue of the Missouri Natu- Kevin Meneau & Andrea Schuhmann ...................................... 3 ral Areas Newsletter focuses on Missouri’s waters, Planning for Conservation in the Meramec River Basin from the springs of the Ozark National Scenic Dr. Steven J. Herrington ....................................................... 5 Riverways to the prairie streams with endangered The Hellbender — A Journey in Saving a Declining Ozark Highland Salamander Topeka shiner populations. We also explore the Dr. Jeff Briggler ......................................................................9 impacts of climate change and the increase in Monitoring Missouri’s Large Springs abundance of these once-historic rain events Dr. David E. Bowles & Hope R. Dodd ....................................13 Recent increase in extreme rainfall amounts in the Big Barren which now occur more frequently than before. Creek Watershed, Southeast Missouri The Missouri Natural Areas Program protects Dr. Robert T. Pavlowsky, Marc R. Owen & Rachael A. Bradley . 19 not only small remnant natural communities, but Re-introduction of Topeka Shiners into Northern Missouri Using Non-essential Experimental Populations — the Product also watershed-scale landscapes such as the St. of an Excellent Partnership Francois Mountains Natural Area which weighs Dr. Paul M. McKenzie, Jerry Wiechman & Dr. Doug Novinger ..25 in at 7,028 acres. The recently expanded LaBarque Huzzah Creek — An Aquatic Resource Worthy of Conservation Mike Leahy & Jennifer Girondo ........................................... 29 Creek Natural Area now encompasses 2,084 acres Huzzah Watershed and Landowner Projects Benefitting of high quality ecosystems spanning ownership People, Critters, and Water between the Missouri Department of Conserva- Rob Pulliam ...................................................................... 30 Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring Projects in tion and Missouri Department of Natural Re- Missouri sources. Read on to learn more about the highly Randy Sarver .....................................................................32 diverse LaBarque Creek Natural Area and other Natural Area News .............................................................34 Calendar of Events .............................................................39 themes and topics that pertain to our state’s valu- able water resources. The Missouri Natural Areas Newsletter is an annual journal published — Allison J. Vaughn, editor by the Missouri Natural Areas Committee, whose mission is identifying, designating, managing and restoring the best remaining examples of Allison Vaughn is the Ozark District Natural Resource Steward with natural communities and geological sites encompassing the full spectrum the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. of Missouri’s natural heritage. The Missouri Natural Areas Committee Contact: [email protected] consists of the Missouri Department of Nat- ural Resources, the Missouri Depart- ment of Conservation, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service To receive notification when new issues of the and the Nature Conservancy. Missouri Natural Areas Newsletter are posted, e-mail [email protected]. This list-serve is only used to notify people of the link to the current natural areas newsletter web posting. 2 Missouri Natural Areas Newsletter • Vol. 16, No. 1, 2016 Photo by Danny Brown LaBarque Creek’s Small, But Mighty Conservation By Kevin Meneau and Andrea Schuhmann one-inch rainfall overwhelms the hilltops of a small urban watershed. Sheets of stormwater scream off numerous imper- Avious surfaces and are collected in nearby pipes to be quickly dumped into normally dry stream channels. The raging torrents exit pipes and rap- idly fill increasingly vast canyons gouged out of stream channels which people could once easily step over. Aquatic habitats, and the animals need- ing it, are devastated across the St. Louis region. The message is as clear as the stormwater is turbid — healthy streams start in small, healthy places. Ghost Falls is just one of many gems tucked away throughout the Just a few miles away, the same rainstorm filtered LaBarque Creek Natural Area. The St. Peters Sandstone formations yield a variety of spectacular geologic features including incised through a mosaic of diverse landscapes within the box canyons, shelter caves, sandstone bridges and intermittent LaBarque Creek watershed’s natural area, slowly waterfalls as observed here. producing rivulets which trickle over ancient St. Peter’s sandstone waterfalls and gather into an terrestrial structure, energy, and nutrients into the unnamed tributary. These clear and gentle flows aquatic environment — in the form of leaves, root augment steady stream base flows to maintain wads, and downed trees. These intact, physical high-quality and diverse aquatic habitats. Small, and biological elements act in concert to support a but mighty conservation lives here. remarkable array of fish and aquatic macroinver- In 2010, an initial natural area designation of tebrates here and elsewhere in the watershed. 667 acres was made recognizing upper LaBarque MDC surveys have identified 54 species of fish Creek Watershed’s sheltered moist canyons, cliffs, that inhabit LaBarque Creek — over three times bowls, waterfalls, and ravines and the suite of greater than its downstream Meramec River tribu- state-listed plants and the natural communities tary neighbors. LaBarque Creek’s fisheries Index they host. In 2016, an additional 1,417 acres (the of Biologic Integrity consistently scores above 77, balance of Don Robinson State Park and remain- indicating high quality. Many of the fish inhabit- ing LaBarque Creek Conservation Area) was added. ing this watershed are long-lived species whose The additional acreage is the source of several presence not only indicates stream quality but Ozark headwater streams that merge to form an also long-term habitat integrity and stability. outstanding spring branch. This 2nd Order tribu- Studies have shown that once 10% or more of a tary of LaBarque Creek contains an abundance of watershed is converted to impervious surface, sig- pool and riffle habitats that form as the stream nificant losses in ecological integrity ensue. Unlike meanders over sand, gravel, cobble and sandstone the surrounding urban watersheds, less than 5% of bedrock. The surrounding forests and vegetated the LaBarque Creek Watershed consists of imper- banks provide critical organic inputs — cycling vious surfaces. Approximately 32% of the entire Vol. 16, No. 1, 2016 • Missouri Natural Areas Newsletter 3 LaBarque Creek Watershed is under public owner- they form creates a healthy and impressively di- ship (Don Robinson State Park, LaBarque Creek verse LaBarque Creek. And within that Creek lies Conservation Area, Young Conservation Area, and its treasure — tremendous biodiversity. Glassberg Conservation Area) to help ensure the long-term protection of this biodiversity hotspot. Kevin Meneau is a Fisheries Management Biologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation. Collectively, these rich, intact terrestrial communi- Contact: [email protected] ties generate healthy sub-watersheds drained by Andrea Schuhmann is a Natural History Biologist with the Missouri healthy, small streams. Each healthy tributary may Department of Conservation. be small, but together the mighty aquatic matrix Contact: [email protected] The streams of Don Robinson State