ACCOUNTS FOR SPECIES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES AT RISK IN THE ARROW BOUNDARY, KOOTENAY LAKE, AND ROCKY MOUNTAIN FOREST DISTRICTS, BRITISH COLUMBIA – AN ADDENDUM by GILBERT PROULX, PhD, RPBio. Alpha Wildlife Research & Management Ltd. & DAN BERNIER, MSc, RPBio. Timberline Natural Resource Group Ltd. prepared for BC Timber Sales Kootenay Business Area c/o George Edney 1907 Ridgewood Rd Nelson, BC V1L 6K1 28 March 2008 Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 4 1.1 Selection of Species and Communities at Risk for this Report .......................... 4 1.2 Accounts ............................................................................................................. 4 1.3 Literature Cited................................................................................................... 6 2.0 INVERTEBRATES ................................................................................................ 7 2.1 Abbreviate Pondsnail - Stagnicola apicina ......................................................... 8 2.2 Aphrodite Fritillary - Speyeria aphrodite whitehousei ....................................... 9 2.3 Ashy Pebblesnail - Fluminicola fuscus............................................................. 11 2.4 Attenuate Fossaria - Fossaria truncatula........................................................... 13 2.5 Banded Tigersnail - Anguispira kochi .............................................................. 14 2.6 Black-footed Tightcoil - Pristiloma chersinella................................................ 16 2.7 Checkered Skipper - Pyrgus communis............................................................ 18 2.8 Coeur d’Alene Oregonian - Cryptomastix mullani........................................... 20 2.9 Emma’s Dancer - Argia emma ......................................................................... 22 2.10 Glossy Valvata - Valvata humeralis ................................................................. 24 2.11 Jutta Arctic - Oeneis jutta chermocki................................................................ 26 2.12 Lambda Snaggletooth - Gastrocopta holzingeri ............................................... 28 2.13 Magnum Mantleslug - Magnipelta mycophaga ................................................ 30 2.14 Mead’s Sulphur - Colias meadii ....................................................................... 32 2.15 Mormon Fritillary - Speyeria mormonia eurynome.......................................... 34 2.16 Old World Swallowtail - Papilio machaon ....................................................... 36 2.17 Pale Jumping Slug - Hemphillia camelus ......................................................... 38 2.18 Pelidne Sulphur - Colias pelidne....................................................................... 40 2.19 Pygmy Slug - Kootenaia burkei........................................................................ 42 2.20 Rocky Mountainsnail - Oreohelix strigosa ....................................................... 44 2.21 Rocky Mountain Ridged Mussel - Gonidea angulata....................................... 46 2.22 Rotund Physa - Physella columbiana................................................................ 48 2.23 Shortface Lanx - Fisherola nuttalli ................................................................... 50 2.24 Silky Vallonia - Vallonia cyclophorella ........................................................... 52 2.25 Subalpine Mountainsnail - Oreohelix subrudis................................................. 54 2.26 Swamp Fingersnail - Musculium partumeium.................................................. 56 2.27 Threeridge Valvata - Valvata tricarinata........................................................... 58 2.28 Western River Cruiser - Macromia magnifica.................................................. 60 2.29 Winged Floater - Anodonta nuttalliana............................................................. 62 3.0 AMPHIBIANS & REPTILES .............................................................................. 64 3.1 Western Painted Turtle - Chrysemys picta bellii .............................................. 65 4.0 BIRDS................................................................................................................... 67 4.1 Band-tailed Pigeon - Patagioenas fasciata ........................................................ 68 4.2 Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica ....................................................................... 70 4.3 Bobolink - Dolichonyx oryzivorus ................................................................... 73 4.4 Brewer’s Sparrow - Spizella breweri breweri................................................... 75 4.5 Broad-winged Hawk - Buteo platypterus ......................................................... 77 4.6 Canyon Wren - Catherpes mexicanus............................................................... 79 4.7 Double-crested Cormorant - Phalacrocorax auritus.......................................... 81 Accounts for Species and Plant Communities at Risk in the Arrow Boundary, Kootenay Lake, and Rocky 2 Mountain Forest Districts, British Columbia – An Addendum Alpha Wildlife Research & Management Ltd. – Proulx & Bernier 2008 4.8 Le Conte’s Sparrow - Ammodramus leconteii ................................................ 83 4.9 Peregrine Falcon - Falco peregrinus anatum .................................................... 85 4.10 Purple Martin - Progne subis ............................................................................ 87 5.0 MAMMALS ......................................................................................................... 89 5.1 Great Basin Pocket Mouse - Perognathus parvus............................................. 90 5.2 Northern Long-eared Myotis - Myotis septentrionalis ..................................... 92 5.3 Southern Red-backed Vole - Cletrhionomys gapperi galei .............................. 94 5.4 Townsend’s Big-eared Bat - Corynorhinus townsendii.................................... 96 6.0 PLANT COMMUNITIES.................................................................................... 98 6.1 Three-way Sedge Herbaceous Vegetation - Dulichium arundinaceum Herbaceous Vegetation ................................................................................................. 99 Accounts for Species and Plant Communities at Risk in the Arrow Boundary, Kootenay Lake, and Rocky 3 Mountain Forest Districts, British Columbia – An Addendum Alpha Wildlife Research & Management Ltd. – Proulx & Bernier 2008 1.0 INTRODUCTION The conservation of species and plant communities at risk is a fundamental component of sustainable forest management in British Columbia. In 2006, Alpha Wildlife Resarch & Management Ltd. published a field guide for BC Timber Sales (BCTS), Kootenay Business Area to assist planners and field crews in recognizing species and plant communities at risk in their operating areas (Proulx and Bernier 2006a). Recently, BCTS decided to update this field guide. This report is an addendum to Proulx and Bernier’s (2006a) field guide. 1.1 Selection of Species and Communities at Risk for this Report Species and plant communities at risk that were included in this report belonged to at least one of the following categories (see Proulx and Bernier 2006 for definitions): • COSEWIC – endangered, threatened or species of concern. • IWMS (Identified Wildlife Management Strategy). • CDC red- and blue- listed animals, red-listed plants, and red-listed plant communities. A total of 45 SAR were selected for this project (Table 1): 29 invertebrates, 1 amphibians/reptiles, 10 birds, 4 mammals, 0 plants, and 1 plant community. As in Proulx and Bernier (2006a), fish species at risk were not considered for this report 1.2 Accounts The development of the accounts took into consideration RISC standard for species accounts (RISC 1999). The format of this document was further modified using Proulx and Bernier’s (2006b) template. The accounts were developed in the context of an identification guide to help foresters to identify species and plant communities. The accounts therefore focused on a description of the species/plant communities and the sites where they may be found. The accounts were written using information from scientific publications, general field guides, and the CDC website. The quality and quantity of information varied significantly among accounts. While complete information is usually available for vertebrates, little is known about invertebrates at risk (particularly freshwater mollusks). In some cases, we had to use poor-quality photographs or drawings to describe invertebrates. Accounts for Species and Plant Communities at Risk in the Arrow Boundary, Kootenay Lake, and Rocky 4 Mountain Forest Districts, British Columbia – An Addendum Alpha Wildlife Research & Management Ltd. – Proulx & Bernier 2008 Table 1. SAR accounts included in this report. No. Species Scientific Name COSEWIC / CDC IWMS Red-listed Blue-listed INVERTEBRATES 1 Abbreviate Stagnicola apicina 3 pondsnail 2 Aphrodite fritillary Speyeria aphrodite 3 3 Ashy pebblesnail Fluminicola fuscus 3 4 Attenuate fossaria Fossaria truncatula 3 5 Banded tigersnail Anguispira kochi 3 6 Black-footed Pristiloma chersinella 3 tightcoil 7 Checkered skipper Pyrgus communis 3 8 Coeur d’alene Cryptomastix mullani 3 oregonian 9 Emma’s dancer Argia emma 3 10 Glossy valvata Valvata humeralis 3 11 Jutta arctic Oeneis jutta