National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Rare Vertebrate Species Inventory Natural Resource Report NPS/SOPN/NRTR—2008/001 ON THE COVER Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site: Grassland along Big Sandy Creek Sand Creek north of the monument. Photograph by: John R. Sovell Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Rare Vertebrate Species Inventory Natural Resource Report NPS/SOPN/NRTR—2008/001 John Sovell, Jodie Bell, and Stephanie Neid John Sovell Colorado Natural Heritage Program Colorado State University 254 General Services Building Fort Collins, CO 80523 Prepared for: National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program Southern Plains Network Johnson City, Texas June 2008 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center Fort Collins, Colorado i The Natural Resource Publication series addresses natural resource topics that are of interest and applicability to a broad readership in the National Park Service and to others in the management of natural resources, including the scientific community, the public, and the NPS conservation and environmental constituencies. Manuscripts are peer-reviewed to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and is designed and published in a professional manner. The Natural Resources Technical Reports series is used to disseminate the peer-reviewed results of scientific studies in the physical, biological, and social sciences for both the advancement of science and the achievement of the National Park Service’s mission. The reports provide contributors with a forum for displaying comprehensive data that are often deleted from journals because of page limitations. Current examples of such reports include the results of research that addresses natural resource management issues; natural resource inventory and monitoring activities; resource assessment reports; scientific literature reviews; and peer reviewed proceedings of technical workshops, conferences, or symposia. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations and data in this report are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the U.S. Department of the Interior, NPS. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. Printed copies of reports in these series may be produced in a limited quantity and they are only available as long as the supply lasts. This report is also available from the Heartland I&M Network website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/im/units/HTLN) on the internet, or by sending a request to the address on the back cover. Please cite this publication as: Sovell, J. R., J. Bell, and S. Neid. 2008. Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Rare Vertebrate Species Inventory. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SOPN/NRTR—2007/001. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS D-XXX, April 2009 ii Contents Page Contents .........................................................................................................................................iii List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. v Figures of Figures .......................................................................................................................... vi Figures of Figures .......................................................................................................................... vi Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1 Project Scope of Work.............................................................................................................. 1 Study Area 7 Location and Regional Setting.................................................................................................. 7 Vegetation................................................................................................................................. 8 Wildlife ................................................................................................................................... 10 Other Physical Characteristics ................................................................................................ 11 Methods 15 Plains Ambrosia (Ambrosia linearis)...................................................................................... 15 Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) ..................................................................................... 15 Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis).......................................................................................... 15 Mountain plover (Charadrius montanus)................................................................................ 16 Black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus)................................................................... 16 Arkansas darter (Etheostoma cragini) .................................................................................... 16 Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum)......................................................................... 17 Lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) ............................................................ 17 Swift fox (Vulpes velox).......................................................................................................... 17 Results........................................................................................................................................... 19 Translocation of Lesser Prairie Chicken....................................................................................... 26 iii Discussion..................................................................................................................................... 29 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................. 31 iv List of Tables Page Table 1. Definition of natural heritage imperilment ranks. .............................................................4 Table 2. Element occurrence ranks and their definitions.................................................................6 Table 3. The plant communities and their area totals for the established SAND boundary............8 Table 4. Priority species for consideration in the Sand Creek Rare Species Inventory.................13 Table 5. Sampling dates at SAND and focal species searched for during each trip......................19 Table 6. Endangered, threatened, and species of conservation concern recorded from SAND. ...21 Table 7. Common animal species observed at Sand Creek National Historic Site during summer 2006.................................................................................................................................23 Table 7. Habitat requirements for the lesser prairie chicken. ........................................................27 v Figures of Figures Page Figure 1. Regional setting of the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. .............................2 Figure 2. Authorized and established park boundaries of Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. ...................................................................................................................................7 Figure 3. Vegetation map of Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site.....................................9 Figure 4. A research scientist dipnets for small fishes at a wetland within SAND. ......................17 Figure 5. Black-tailed prairie dog ..................................................................................................20 Figure 6. Burrowing Owl...............................................................................................................20 Figure 7. Northern leopard frog.....................................................................................................20 Figure 8. Distribution of endangered, threatened and species of concern at SAND. ....................22 Figure 9. Lek sites, historic lek sites, and production areas (nesting and brood rearing habitat defined as 2.4 km buffer zone around each lek site) of the lesser prairie chicken (after CNHP and CDOW).........................................................................................................26 vi Introduction Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site (SAND) was authorized by the U. S. Congress in November of 2000 with an area of 12,500 acres for inclusion in the park boundaries. SAND is on the high plains of southeastern Colorado. It is in north-central Kiowa County near the border with Cheyenne County and is located 15 miles NNE of Eads, Colorado (Figure 1). These counties are on the state line bordering Kansas and SAND is approximately 25 miles from the Kansas state line. SAND is surrounded by dryland agricultural fields and rangeland. The current established boundary of SAND encompasses approximately 2,400 acres, which is managed by the National Park Service (NPS). The objective of the NPS is to preserve, protect, interpret, commemorate and memorialize the site for future generations. This includes preservation of the native biological resources found at the site. The NPS has divided the nation’s park units into