Appendix F Detailed Cover Type Tables - USDA Rural Development

Bemidji – Grand Rapids
Biological Assessment and Evaluation
As a member of the Ophioglossaceae or evergreen grapefern family, the frond of B. oneidense is not
killed by frost in the fall but holds its form through winter. Then, during the summer, typically in late
June, a new leaf begins to emerge and unfold. The overwintering leaf tends to disintegrate as the new
leaf appears. An immature plant will usually bear a single sterile leaf, not developing a spore‐bearing
stalk until subsequent years. Therefore, many plants are sterile in any given year. The leaf of older plants
is more dissected than the leaf of younger plants. In the past, B. oneidense has been treated as a form
or variety of B. dissectum (dissected grapefern) or B. multifidum (leathery grapefern) as well as their
hybrid. Botrychium dissectum, B. multifidum, and B. oneidense look very similar when young (U.S. Forest
Service, 1999). Wagner (1961) determined that B. oneidense is a distinct species, which is supported by
Smith's 1967 study of phenolic substances present in this and related species (U.S. Forest Service, 1999).
Sources: language directly from: DNR Rare Species Guide: Query Page:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/rsg/profile.html?action=elementDetail&selectedElement=PPOPH010C0
Species Distribution and Occurrences within the Study Area
USDA Plants Database at:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Minnesota&statefip
s=27&symbol=BOON
Botrychium oneidense is listed by the DNR, DRM and the CNF with
element occurrence data available by each agency. Point data
provided by these agencies identifies 4 distinct populations
throughout the Study Area.
Risk Factors
Threats to Botrychium oneidense include drought, fire, timber
harvest, collecting, herbicides, herbivory, exotic earthworms,
succession, and grazing (Chadde and Kudray, 2000d).Most known locations of this species are moist and
cool, so alteration of canopy cover may have an effect on site microclimate, creating potentially warmer,
drier settings (Chadde and Kudray, 2000a).
Invasion of exotic earthworms appears to represent the greatest threat to this species, and the genus as
a whole within the CNF area. While earthworms are generally assumed to have beneficial effects on soil
structure, litter decomposition, soil chemistry and nutrient cycling, their presence alters soil
horizination, reducing the O (organic) layer, eliminating the E (leaching) layer, and altering the
hydrologic function of soils (Chadde and Kudray, 2000x). The presence of earthworms has been shown
to decrease micorrizal health and abundance, and by extension, represents a threat to all species of the
genera Botrychium. USFS Conservation Assessments(Chadde and Kudray,2001) list as “high” the threat
of earthworms to this species.
4.2.5.8 Pale Moonwort (Botrychium pallidum)
Pale moonwort is listed as DNR Endangered, CNF RFSS, and DRM Threatened.
Potential effects for this species are described in the following Guilds: Riparian Habitats, Northern
Hardwood Forests, Woodlands, and Forest Openings/Exposed Soils/Grasslands.
Species Description
This tiny plant is 2.5‐7.6 cm (1‐3 in.) high and has a pale green leaf with up to 5 pairs of whitish, kidneyshaped
pinnae (lobes of the leaf). Each pair of pinnae may be folded towards each other. The bottom,
largest pair of pinnae often split into 2 unequal lobes with rounded tips and with veining like the ribs of
July 2010 Species and Associated Habitat Page 4‐51