PROGRAM HERITAGE NATURAL Field Manual for Applying Rapid Ecological Integrity Assessments in Upland Plant Communities of Washington State (Version 1.1) WASHINGTON Prepared by F. Joseph Rocchio, Tynan Ramm-Granberg, and Rex C. Crawford December 20, 2018 Natural Heritage Report 2020-05 Field Manual for Applying Rapid Ecological Integrity Assessments in Upland Plant Communities of Washington State (Version 1.1) Washington Natural Heritage Program Report Number: 2020-05 October 29, 2020 Prepared by: F. Joseph Rocchio Tynan Ramm-Granberg & Rex C. Crawford Washington Natural Heritage Program Washington Department of Natural Resources Olympia, Washington 98504-7014 ON THE COVER: An occurrence of Pseudotsuga menziesii - Tsuga heterophylla / Gaultheria shallon / Polystichum munitum Forest (G4G5/S4) in excellent condition near Lake Crescent, at Olympic National Park (Photograph by Tynan Ramm-Granberg). Level 2 EIA Field Manual for Washington Upland Plant Communities ver. 1.1 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................... 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 2 1.1 GLOSSARY OF FREQUENTLY USED TERMS ............................................................................ 3 2.0 APPLYING LEVEL 2 ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY ASSESSMENTS ............................ 5 2.1 MATERIALS ............................................................................................................................ 5 2.2 PROCEDURE .......................................................................................................................... 5 2.3 ASSESSMENT AREA ............................................................................................................... 7 2.3.1 Point-Based Assessment Area ..................................................................................... 10 2.3.2 Polygon-Based Assessment Area ................................................................................. 11 2.3.3 Combined Point/Polygon-Based Assessment Areas for Large-Patch and Matrix Ecological Systems ................................................................................................................ 13 2.3.4 Nested Polygon-Based Assessment Areas for Use with Sub-AAs ................................ 15 2.4 DETERMINE THE ASSESSMENT AREA BOUNDARIES ........................................................... 16 2.5 DETERMINE WHICH METRICS TO APPLY ............................................................................. 19 3.0 LEVEL 2 EIA PROTOCOL ................................................................................ 24 3.1 SITE / CLASSIFICATION INFORMATION ............................................................................... 24 3.2 ASSESSMENT AREA INFORMATION .................................................................................... 25 3.3 ENVIRONMENTAL ............................................................................................................... 26 3.4 VEGETATION ....................................................................................................................... 28 3.5 EIA METRIC RATINGS AND SCORES ..................................................................................... 30 3.6 LANDSCAPE CONTEXT METRICS .......................................................................................... 31 LAN1 Contiguous Natural Land Cover................................................................................... 31 LAN2 Land Use Index (0-500 m) ............................................................................................ 34 3.7 EDGE .................................................................................................................................... 38 EDG1 Perimeter with Natural Edge ...................................................................................... 38 EDG2 Width of Natural Edge................................................................................................. 40 EDG3 Condition of Natural Edge ........................................................................................... 45 3.8 VEGETATION ....................................................................................................................... 46 VEG1 Native Plant Species Cover .......................................................................................... 46 VEG2 Invasive Nonnative Plant Species Cover ..................................................................... 48 VEG3 Native Plant Species Composition............................................................................... 49 VEG4 Vegetation Structure ................................................................................................... 51 VEG5 Woody Regeneration .................................................................................................. 59 VEG6 Coarse Woody Debris, Snags, and Litter ..................................................................... 61 3. 9 SOIL / SUBSTRATE .............................................................................................................. 70 SOI1 Soil Condition ................................................................................................................ 70 3.10 SIZE .................................................................................................................................... 72 iii Level 2 EIA Field Manual for Washington Upland Plant Communities ver. 1.1 SIZ1 Comparative Size (Patch Type) ...................................................................................... 72 SIZ2 Change in Size (optional) ............................................................................................... 74 4.0 CALCULATE EIA SCORE AND DETERMINE ELEMENT OCCURRENCE STATUS. 76 4.1 ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY ASSESSMENT SCORECARD ........................................................... 76 4.2 CALCULATE MAJOR ECOLOGICAL FACTOR (MEF) SCORES AND RATINGS .......................... 77 4.2.1 Landscape Context MEF Score/Rating ......................................................................... 77 4.2.2 Edge MEF Score/Rating ................................................................................................ 77 4.2.3 Vegetation MEF Score/Rating ...................................................................................... 77 4.2.4 Soils MEF Score/Rating ................................................................................................ 77 4.2.5 Size MEF Score/Rating ................................................................................................. 77 4.3 CALCULATE PRIMARY FACTOR SCORES ............................................................................... 77 4.3.1 Landscape Context Primary Factor Score/Rating ........................................................ 78 4.3.2 Condition Primary Factor Score/Rating ....................................................................... 78 4.3.3 Size Primary Factor Score/Rating ................................................................................. 78 4.4 CALCULATE OVERALL ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY ASSESSMENT SCORE/RATING ................... 78 4.5 CALCULATE THE ELEMENT OCCURRENCE RANK ................................................................. 79 4.6 DETERMINE ELEMENT OCCURRENCE STATUS .................................................................... 81 5.0 STRESSOR CHECKLIST .................................................................................. 82 RELEASE NOTES................................................................................................. 85 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 85 APPENDIX A. DIAGNOSTIC SPECIES AND COMMON INCREASERS, DECREASERS, AND INVASIVE PLANTS OF WASHINGTON’S ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS (DRAFT - IN PROGRESS) ....................................................................................................... 93 iv Level 2 EIA Field Manual for Washington Upland Plant Communities ver. 1.1 Figures Figure 1. Example of Assessment Area (AA) v. Occurrence ........................................................................... 8 Figure 2. Decision Tree for Selection of Assessment Area Approach and Sampling Strategy ........................ 9 Figure 3. Point-based Assessment Areas ..................................................................................................... 11 Figure 4. Polygon-based Assessment Area .................................................................................................. 13 Figure 5. Combined Point/Polygon-Based Assessment Area ....................................................................... 14 Figure 6. Nested Polygon-Based Assessment Area ...................................................................................... 16 Figure 7. Soil Texture Flow Chart. ................................................................................................................ 27 Figure 8. Contiguous Natural Land Cover Evaluation .................................................................................. 33 Figure 9. Demonstration of Using Remote Sensing Methods for Scoring the Land Use Index metric ......... 36 Figure 10. Edge Perimeter Example ...........................................................................................................