Rare Plant and Vegetation Surveys of Fort Flagler, Kinney Point and Mystery Bay State Parks Pacific Biodiversity Institute 2 Rare Plant and Vegetation Survey of Fort Flagler, Kinney Point, and Mystery Bay State Parks Dana Visalli [email protected] Hans M. Smith IV [email protected] Peter H. Morrison [email protected] December 2006 Pacific Biodiversity Institute P.O. Box 298 Winthrop, Washington 98862 509-996-2490 Recommended Citation Visalli, J.D., H.M. Smith IV, and P.H. Morrison. 2006. Rare Plant and Vegetation Survey of Fort Flagler, Kinney Point, and Mystery Bay State Park. Pacific Biodiversity Institute, Winthrop, Washington. 113 p. Acknowledgements The photographs in this report are by Dana Visalli, and Hans Smith. Project Funding This project was conducted under a contract with the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. 3 Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 5 Survey Routes ...................................................................................................................6 Vegetation Communities .................................................................................................. 8 Methods............................................................................................................................................ 8 Results.............................................................................................................................................. 8 Examples of Vegetation Community Types.............................................................................. 15 Rare Plant Surveys.......................................................................................................... 30 Methods.......................................................................................................................................... 30 Results............................................................................................................................................ 30 Vascular Plant Lists for the Fort Flagler, Kinney Point and Mystery Bay State Park Properties .................................................................................................................................................... 32 Ecological Condition of Fort Flagler, Kinney Point and Mystery Bay State Park Properties ........................................................................................................................ 41 References....................................................................................................................... 42 Appendix A – Field Survey Schedule ............................................................................ 43 Appendix B – Description of Rare Element Status Codes........................................... 44 Appendix C – Ecological Condition Ranking System .................................................. 45 Appendix D – Vegetation Survey Data .......................................................................... 47 Appendix E – Rare Plant Sighting Forms.................................................................... 111 4 Introduction Under contract with the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, Fort Flagler, Kinney Point, and Mystery Bay State Park properties, located in Jefferson County, were surveyed for rare plant occurrences and mapped according to vegetation communities by Pacific Biodiversity Institute (PBI). Figure 1 illustrates the location of these parks on Morrowstone Island near Port Townsend. Vegetation data was collected for all the mapped vegetation types. This report summarizes the activities and findings of the contracted work. Figure 1. Overview of Fort Flagler, Kinney Point, and Mystery Bay State Park properties. 5 Survey Routes Figure 2. Survey routes for Fort Flagler State Park. 6 Figure 3. Survey routes for Kinney Point. Figure 4. Survey routes for Mystery Bay State Park. 7 Vegetation Communities Methods Vegetation communities within Fort Flagler, Kinney Point, and Mystery Bay State Park properties were delineated and classified using a combination of field survey and remote sensing techniques. We relied on descriptions from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WADNR) late-seral forested plant associations of the Puget Lowland (Chappell 2004), baseline inventory of rare, threatened and endangered plant species/communities along Washington’s Pacific coast (Kunze 1882) and freshwater wetland vegetation (Kunze 1994). In some cases, the WADNR descriptions were not adequate in describing existing vegetation associations. In these cases, alternative vegetation communities or plant associations were created by PBI or found in alternative reference material. Remote sensing techniques consisted of manually delineating plant associations or mosaics of plant associations in a digital environment. We reviewed orthorectified aerial photography from the 1990s and recent ASTER and LANDSAT Thematic Mapper satellite images for discernable vegetation or landform patterns. When available, we also used high resolution true color orthorectified aerial photography. Topographic maps, digital elevation models (DEMs), and light detection and ranging imagery (LIDAR) were also employed to assist the process of vegetation community delineation. The final vegetation polygons were created by hand in a GIS by ocular assessment. Field surveys consisted of visiting sites located within the vegetation polygons created during the remote sensing process. At representative sites within a polygon, vegetation data and site descriptions were recorded in a fashion consistent with the “plant community polygon” format provided by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. Further refinements and editing of the drafted vegetation polygon layers were done by hand on hardcopy maps in the field, and later edited digitally in a GIS. Results We mapped and surveyed 41 vegetation community polygons, comprised of 19 vegetation community types, within Fort Flagler State Park. We mapped and surveyed 9 vegetation community polygons within the Kinney Point State Park property, comprised of 11 vegetation community types. Within Mystery Bay State Park, we mapped and surveyed 11 vegetation community polygons, comprised of 10 vegetation community types. Vegetation community polygons are either stand-alone plant associations or mosaics of multiple plant associations. Tables 1 – 3 list the plant associations and/or cover types found within the Fort Flagler, Kinney Point, and Mystery Bay State Park properties. See Appendix B for interpretation of “Status” codes. Figures 5 – 10 illustrate the location of the vegetation community polygons. Note that Figures 6, 8, and 10 only show the primary plant associations in each polygon (PA1 in the database). A printout of the complete set of data we collected for each polygon is attached in Appendix D. The ecological condition of each polygon was evaluated according to a simple ranking system described in Appendix C. 8 Table 1. Vegetation Community Types Encountered in Fort Flagler State Park PA1 Abbreviation Association Name English Name Reference Status Occurrence Acer macrophyllum–Alnus rubra / ACMA-ALRU/POMU- bigleaf maple–red alder / Polystichum munitum - Tellima Chappell 2004 G2G3S2 1 TEGR2 swordfern – fringecup grandiflora Alnus rubra / Polystichum ALRU2/POMU red alder / swordfern Chappell 2004 G4S4 2 munitum slough sedge CAOB3 c.t. Carex obnupta community type Kunze 1994 G4 0 community type American dunegrass Kunze and ELMO9 community Elymus mollis community G2? 2 community Cornelius 1982 Pseudotsuga menziesii / Douglas-fir / salal - PSME/GASH-HODI Gaultheria shallon - Holodiscus Chappell 2004 G2G3S2 1 oceanspray discolor Pseudotsuga menziesii - Thuja PSME-THPL- Douglas-fir - red cedar plicata (Abies grandis) / Chappell 2004 G2S1 7 (ABGR)/GASH (grand fir) / salal Gaultheria shallon Pseudotsuga menziesii - Thuja Douglas-fir - red cedar / PSME-THPL/GASH- plicata / Gaultheria shallon - salal - Cascade Chappell 2004 G1S1 0 MANE2/POMU Mahonia nervosa / Polystichum oregongrape / swordfern munitum Pseudotsuga menziesii - Tsuga Douglas-fir - western PSME- heterophylla / Gaultheria shallon / hemlock / salal / Chappell 2004 G4G5S4 1 TSHE/GASH/POMU Polystichum munitum swordfern crabapple community PYFU c.t. Pyrus fusca community type Kunze 1994 G3 1 type Kunze and RONU/FERU2 Rosa nutakana / Festuca rubra Nootka rose / red fescue G1G2Q 2 Cornelius 1982 Salix sp. c.t. Salix spp. community type willow community type Kunze 1994 2 Kunze and SCAM2 community Scirpus americanus Community American bulrush G3 1 Cornelius 1982 Shrubland Unclassified Chappell 2004 1 Thuja plicata - Abies grandis / red cedar - grand fir / THPL-ABGR/POMU Chappell 2004 G1S1 6 Polystichum munitum swordfern Eroding Sandy Cliff PBI 2 abandoned field 1 Beach 2 Developed 5 Water 5 Table 2. Vegetation Community Types Encountered Kinney Point State Park PA1 Abbreviation Association Name English Name Reference Status Occurrence ALRU2/POMU Alnus rubra / Polystichum munitum red alder / swordfern Chappell 2004 G4S4 0 Alnus rubra / Rubus spectabilis red alder / salmonberry ALRU2/RUSP c.t. Kunze 1994 G4G5 3 community type community type Pseudotsuga menziesii - Tsuga PSME- Douglas-fir - western heterophylla / Gaultheria shallon / Chappell 2004 G4G5S4 1 TSHE/GASH/POMU hemlock / salal / swordfern Polystichum munitum Pseudotsuga menziesii - Abies PSME- Douglas-fir