December 2012 Number 1 - Utah Native Plant Society

Calochortiana December 2012 Number 1
Cedar Breaks also has a fairly low number of endemic
and rare species.
It is in terms of complementarity that Cedar Breaks
makes its primary contribution to the state’s protected
area network. Jaccard’s Coefficient of Similarity is a
useful formula for measuring complementarity as it
weights similarities in floristic composition between
areas by discrepancies in total species richness. With an
average JCS of 0.128, Cedar Breaks National Monument
has the most dissimilar flora of any parkland considered
in this study other than Golden Spike National
Historic Site. The monument’s low JCS score is a consequence
of its relatively high number of unique plant
species (63 taxa or nearly 18% of the local flora) that
are not protected elsewhere in the state. While many of
these unique species are Claron endemics, the majority
are taxa restricted to elevations above 3000 meters. The
average elevation of Cedar Breaks is 2800 meters, a figure
that exceeds the highest elevation of all other parks
in the Utah reserve network. The 14 parklands in the
preserve network analyzed here protect 2007 of Utah’s
3659 native and naturalized vascular plant species
(54.8% of the total state flora). Cedar Breaks’ unique
contributions account for 3.1% of the total. Ten of the
24 rare plant species recognized for Cedar Breaks and 9
of the 38 local or regional endemics are among the species
protected nowhere else.
The flora of Cedar Breaks is most similar to that of
Bryce Canyon National Park, with the two parks sharing
227 plant taxa. This degree of similarity is not surprising
given the proximity of the areas and their similar
elevation, vegetation, and geology (both parks have extensive
outcrops of reddish-orange Claron Formation
badlands). Although there is redundancy in the protection
of some species in both parks, this is not necessarily
disadvantageous, as having multiple populations in the
protected area network can reduce the risk of catastrophic
loss and enhance the preservation of multiple genotypes
(Noss and Cooperrider 1994, Margules and Sarkar
2007). Similar redundancy occurs among common montane
forest and meadow species found in both Cedar
Breaks and Timpanogos Cave national monuments,
which despite their great distance from each other share
similar vegetation types and a relatively high Jaccard’s
Coefficient of Similarity.
Based on our analysis of vascular plant checklists
from selected parklands, nearly 45% of the native and
naturalized flora of Utah is not represented in the state’s
existing preserve network. Some of the omissions may
be an artifact of incomplete sampling or data synthesis,
especially of wilderness areas, research natural areas,
national wildlife refuges, private nature preserves, and
other protected areas that could not be included in this
analysis for lack of data. Other holes will only be filled
by targeting specific plant taxa identified by analyzing
system-wide complementarity. Fortunately, many of the
missing species occur in specific geographic areas or
habitat types which are, themselves, poorly represented
in the current network. Fertig (2010a) identified just 12
geographic areas that, if protected, would capture 70%
of the missing plant species in the preserve network on
Utah’s Colorado Plateau. These are mostly “hotspots”
of unprotected endemism and include the La Sal, Abajo,
Henry, Tushar, Boulder, and Pine Valley mountains,
Book Cliffs, Tavaputs, and Fish Lake plateaus, Uinta
Basin, Sevier Valley, and San Rafael Swell. Statewide,
important gaps also exist in the Great Basin, lowland
riparian areas, and the foothills and montane zones of
northern mountains. Future additions to the network
may well be sites like Cedar Breaks that are of relatively
small size or modest species richness but which have
significant beta diversity.
For any reserve network to function, it will be increasingly
important to keep score of what species are
represented, how many populations are captured, and
whether these populations are of sufficient size or quality
to persist. Annotated species lists and databases of
distributions are critical tools for identifying gaps in the
reserve network. Efficient planning and implementation
of a complete reserve system requires that intelligent
choices be made in selecting geographic areas and species
to target for inclusion. Measuring complementarity,
as we have done for Cedar Breaks and other parklands,
is a key step in the prioritization process.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank Paul Roelandt, Superintendent
of Cedar Breaks National Monument, for encouragement
and support; Cynthia Wanschura and Matt Betenson,
formerly of the Zion National Park GIS lab, for
help with maps; and Amy Tendick and Sarah Topp of
the NPS Northern Colorado Plateau Network for sharing
data on new species occurrences. Thanks also to our 2
anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions.
REFERENCES
Buchanan, H. 1992. Wildflowers of southwestern
Utah. Bryce Canyon Natural History Association and
Falcon Press, Helena, MT. 119 pp.
Dewey, S. and K. Andersen. 2005. An inventory of
invasive non-native plants in Cedar Breaks National
Monument (2004): Final report. Utah State University.
Weed Science Research Project #SD0515A.
Evenden, A., M. Miller, M. Beer, E. Nance, S. Daw,
A. Wight, M. Estenson, and L. Cudlip. 2002. Northern
Colorado Plateau Vital Signs Network and Prototype
Cluster, Plan for Natural Resources Monitoring: Phase 1
Report, October 1, 2002 [two volumes]. National Park
Service, Northern Colorado Plateau Network, Moab,
UT. 138 pp. + app.
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