United States USDA Department of Agriculture Plant Associations Forest Service Pacific of the Northwest Region Oregon Dunes R6-NR-EC0L-TP-09-98 National Recreation Area 'S .555 .5 0'S'S' r' ,1y t)7- -' Red fescue association and shoreshore pine/bearberry association. S. : :' SS 5. 'S. S - PLANT ASSOCIATIONS OF THE OREGON DUNES NATIONAL RECREATION AREA SIUSLAW NATIONAL FOREST, OREGON IC ,. .. S S.S.S 'C S. I I * S. : 5T S S S.. S S 5. 5S .. S*5.C. S.' >.Cr" .C, - - - . *çs:.. '.cS5 SS - -,- - 5. .05. 44 - - - 5., : 5 _0 . -5- S. 55 S.05..0s / S - TS. .e S S .5. 4 SJ '55 - - 5.1.. S.S5.5., -- S. S S> - - S. -C. S ? _+S. -s / . * - -- 5- 5., 'C. -- 5' - - - S ['S - Minimal differences in movement of sandsand can influence vegetation: at right, the seashore bluegrass association on slightly shifting sand at the foot of a dunedune slip face;face; at left, the redred fescue association on relativelyrelatively stable sand, slowly being buried byby the slip face. by John A. Christy, James S. Kagan, and Alfred M. Wiedemann United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region Technical Paper R6-NR-ECOL-TP-09-98 1998 ABOUT THE AUTHORS JOHN CHRISTY is a wetlands ecologist with the Oregon Natural Heritage Program, a cooperative project between The Nature Conservancy and the State of Oregon He specializes inin wetland plant communities bryophytes and histoncal ecology. He received a B.S. in General Science from the University of Oregon, and an MS.M.S. in Botany from the University of British Columbia. JIMMY KAGAN is the director and an ecologist with thethe Oregon Natural Heritage Program, a cooperative project between The Nature Conservancy and the State of Oregon. He specializes inin terrestrial plant ecology, botany and conservation biology. He received a B.A. from The Evergreen State College, a BS.B.S. in Biology from Portland State University, and an M.S. in Biology from the University of Oregon. AL WIEDEMANN is a professor of Biology at The Evergreen State College inin Olympia, Washington, where he teaches plant morphology taxonomy andand ecology L)utiDunL morphology and plant ecology of coastal dunes areare his pnmaryprimary research interests He received a B S andand M S in Agronomy from Utah State University and aa Ph D in Plant Ecology from Oregon State University ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Numerous people made production of this guide possiblepossible. Jon Martin and Dick Vanderschaaf secured the initialinitial funding as a cost share project between the Siuslaw National Forest and The Nature Conservancy Jane Kertis Keme Palermo andand Dan Segotta secured funds for publication and Jane Kertis Miles Hemstrom Gail Saunders-Boyll and Fred Hall made publicationpublication a becomebecome a reality Ed Becker Jon Martin JaneJane Kertis Dan Segotta KerneKerrie Palermo Mike Harvey Cindy McCainMcCamn and Courtney Cloyd freely provided expertiseexpertise and guidance throughout the project Patrick Bourgeron Brad Smith Rob Scagel andand Rich Evans helped analyze the data Keith Boggs Andrea Pickart Jon Martin Jane Kertis Bruce Rittenhouse Kathleen Sayce Nancy LidEid and Fred Hall provided valuable commentary andand edits Don Zobel provided information on prior research on plant ecology in the dunes Roger Rosentreter Bruce McCune and Robin Lesher provided data on lichenslichens of the Recreation Area SheikSheila Logan who really started this project with ShellyShefly Smith before any otof the authorsauthors were involved, provided humor and perspective, and revealed the secrets of the sandsand dune shuffle, cioppino and The Federation. Tim Rettmann faithfully floundered with us through salal, huckleberry, and rhododendron "hells,""hells, and we could not have finished the field work without his help. Photographs by John Christy Cover photos: Shore pine/bearberry association and red fescue association. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender,gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information should contact USDA's TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaintcomplaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 3 26-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202- 720-5964 (voice or TDD).IDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary Previous work Study area Location 2 Climate 2 Geology 4 Landforms and vegetation 6 Soils 9 Hydrology Disturbance processes Plant succession 14 Exotic plants 15 Flora 20 Fauna 22 Site productivity 22 Methods 23 Results 25 Key to plant associations of Recreation Area 33 Plant associations of Recreation Area Forest associations 39 Woodland associations 67 Shrubland associations 73 Dwarf-shrubland associations 83 Herbaceous associations 88 References 142 Appendices Appendix 1.1. Summary data for recon plots 152 Appendix 2. Summary data for transect plots ................................174174 Appendix 3. Checklist of vascular plants...............................................177 Index to plant associations of Recreation Area 183 TABLES 1. Average seasonal temperatures (°F) at North Bend and Canary ........................2.........................2 2 Site productivity for selectedselected tree species 23 Classification of plant associations 27 Current growth for trees sampled in recon plots 30 Number of plant species recorded in plots 32 1. Map of Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area 3 2 Temperature and precipitation records 4 3 Three dune profiles 5 4 Successional pathways for freshwater wetland plant associations derived from perennial flowing or ponded fresh water 17 5 Successional pathways for brackish wetland plant associations 17 6 Successional pathways for freshwater wetland plant associations on sandysandy soils 18 7. Successional pathways for upland herbaceous associations 18 8 Successional pathways for upland woody plant associations 19 9 Ordination of selected plant associations 29 10 Forest and woodland tree structure 31 II SUMMARY This boOk is a guide to the plant associations of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. It includes general descriptions of the physical and biological setting of the Recreation Area its climate, geology, landscape; soils, wildlife, and ecological processes. Analysis of quantitative field data identified 52 plant associations occurring in the Recreation Area, and others surely escaped our detection. Vegetation is classified according to the National Vegetation Classification System (Federal Geographic Data Committee 1996; Anderson et al. 1998; Grossman et al. 1998). Ordination of stand data, and delineation of successional pathways indicate that the vegetation is arranged along gradients of moisture, stand structure, soil development, and successional age. Keys identifying each association are followed by descriptions of each association. Descriptions of each association include acronym, ecoclass code (Hall 1998), environment, vegetation and ecology, succession, distribution and history, management issues, and previous studies. Appendices summarize vegetationdata, and list vascular plants known or reported from the Recreation Area. PREVIOUS WORK The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is well known for its towering dunes, reputedly the largest of their kind in the world, and a seemingly endless expanse of shifting sand People come from all over the world to see,see studystudy, and play in this spectacular landscape Some people have even tried to farm it Many scientists have worked in the Recreation Area, creating a wealth of information which helped in the compilation of this guide. Munger (1910, 1967) conducted the first survey of forest types on the Recreation Area, two years after it was acquired by the Forest Service House (1914a 1914b 1918), Peck (1919) and Cooper (1936) were the first to describe vegetation in and near the Recreation Area Egler (1934),(1934) while assisting Cooper in the fieldfield, gathered data and wrote the first account of vegetation ecology in the Recreation Area. Cooper's (1958) monograph of the structural features, history and ecology of the dunes remains the definitive reference for any work on the Recreation Area. Kumler (1963 1969) was the first to describe the forest associations of the Recreation Area in any detail Wiedemann (1966, 1984, 1993), Wiedemann et al. (1969), and Wiedemann and Pickart (1996) produced a series of comprehensive overviews of dune ecology in the Recreation Area and elsewhere along the Pacific coast. Leuthner (1969) studied the lichen flora of dunes in the Florence area, including two sites in the Recreation Area at Cleawox Lake and Carter Lake Pinto et al (1972) provided descriptions, including useful site-specific information, in a planning document for the newly-created Recreation Area. Lund (1973) wrote a brief description of dune landforms, based on the earlier work of Cooper (1958). Newman (1974, 1983) studied dynamics of deflation plains between Carter Lake and Tahkenitch Creek Wilde (1982) while working in the Sutton Creek dune sheet justJust north of the Recreation Area, documented changes caused by the advent of European beachgrass -- processes also occurring within the boundaries of the Recreation Area. Quaye (1982) described several Sitka spruce associations from headlands north of the Recreation