December 2012 Number 1 - Utah Native Plant Society

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Utah Native Plant Society Ladyman, J.A.R. 2004. Status Assessment Report for Sclerocactus mesae-verdae. Prepared for The Navajo Nation Natural Heritage Program, Window Rock, AZ by JnJ Associates, LLC. Centennial, CO. Parolo, G., G. Rossi, and A. Ferrarini. 2008. Toward improved species niche modeling: Arnica montana in the Alps as a case study. Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 1410-1418. Pearson, R.G., C.J. Raxworthy, M. Nakamura, and A.T. Peterson. 2007. Predicting species distributions from small numbers of occurrence records: a test case using cryptic geckos in Madagascar. Journal of Biogeography 34: 102-117. Peterson, A. T., J. Soberon and V. Samcjez-Cordero. 1999. Conservatism of Ecological Niches in Evolutionary Time. Science 285(5431): 1265. Peterson, A. T. and D. A. Vieglais 2001. Predicting Species Invasions Using Ecological Niche Modeling: New Approaches from Bioinformatics Attack a Pressing Problem. BioScience 51(5): 363-371. Peterson, A. T., M. Ortega-Huerta, V. Sanchez- Cordero, J. Soberon, R. Buddemeier and D. Stockwell. 2002. Future Projections for Mexican Faunas Under Global Climate Change Scenarios. Nature (416). Phillips, S.J., R.P. Anderson, and R.E. Schapire. 2006. Maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions. Ecological Modelling 190: 231- 259. Ricketts, T.H., E. Dinerstein, D.M. Olson, and C. Loucks. 1999. Terrestrial ecoregions of North America: A conservation assessment. Island Press, Washington, D.C. Roth, D. 2001. Species account for Sclerocactus mesae-verdae. Navajo Nation Natural Heritage Program. Window Rock, AZ Stockwell, D. and D. Peters. 1999. The GARP Modelling System: Problems and Solutions to Automated Spatial Prediction. Intl. Journal of Geographical Information Science 13. Stockwell, D. and A.T. Peterson. 2002. Effects of sample size on accuracy of species distribution models. Ecological Modelling 148: 1-13. Welsh, S.L. 1978. Problems in plant endemism on the Colorado Plateau. Great Basin Naturalist Memoirs 2:191-195. 76
Calochortiana December 2012 Number 1 Biogeography of Rare Plants of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada Leanna Spjut Ballard, Ballard Ecological Consulting, Millville, UT Abstract. The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge encompasses more than 23,000 acres of unique desert that provides habitat for at least 25 plant and wildlife species found nowhere else in the world. Distinctive hydrology sustains high concentrations of endemic plants on the Refuge. Spring complexes, alkaline desert uplands, and velvet ash, emergent marsh and wet meadow communities known only to exist within the Refuge provide structure and habitat for several rare, endemic and endangered plants. Two studies designed to assist the Refuge with large-scale habitat restoration plans are underway. These studies include mapping all vegetation communities to a fine scale and locating and mapping the distribution of rare and listed plants on the Refuge. Mapping and classifying the vegetation communities to the alliance and association scale throughout the entire Refuge will provide a baseline of existing ecological conditions for monitoring change in the future. The rare plant surveys will also serve as a tool for monitoring the rare plants and the habitats in which they occur. Initially, vegetation classification standards were based upon community types derived from multiple earlier published sources. Due to the unique habitats and patterns of co-dominance of species occurring at the Refuge, several new alliance and association classification descriptions are being written to accurately describe plant communities. Description of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge The Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge (AMNWR) encompasses more than 23,000 acres of unique desert that provides habitat for at least 25 species found nowhere else in the world. The refuge may support the largest concentration of endemic species of any terrestrial landscape in the 48 contiguous United States. The Devil’s Hole pupfish (Cyprinodon diabolis) and one plant species, Ash Meadows niterwort (Nitrophila mohavenis), are listed as federally endangered, and most of the other endemic species are either listed as threatened or are managed as sensitive species. Unfortunately, past human activities in AMNWR have resulted in the invasion of numerous non-native plant species, several of which negatively affect native populations and habitats (Otis Bay and Steven Ecological Consulting 2006). Ash Meadows is essentially a watered island amidst the vast Mojave Desert. Groundwater discharging from a regional carbonate aquifer feeds the numerous springs that exist at Ash Meadows. Spring discharge maintains soil moisture in the lowlands while uplands receive water only from rainfall that averages less than 2.75 inches annually. Annual evaporation exceeds 98.50 inches. Ash Meadows is situated at approximately 2,200 feet elevation in the Mohave Desert, 40 miles east of Death Valley National Monument headquarters at Furnace Creek, California, and 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada (Figure 1). It is located in the east-central portion of the Amargosa Desert. A series of Cambrian limestone and dolomite ridges form the eastern boundary of the Refuge near the center of the Amargosa Val- ley. The northern boundary crosses Quaternary playa deposits while the southern boundary primarily crosses Quaternary alluvial fan deposits. The pattern of sand dunes, badlands, alluvial fans, and broad meadows observed throughout Ash Meadows is the result of a history of playa deposition followed by erosion, formation of alluvial fans adjacent to surrounding ranges, and the transport of sand by both wind and infrequent flows in larger washes and drainages. The distinctive hydrology of Ash Meadows is the result of an extensive groundwater system and surface water drainage that culminates in the Carson Slough, a tributary to the Amargosa River (Otis Bay and Stevens Ecological Consulting 2006). Carson Slough is the primary drainage in Ash Meadows and is generally considered the core of the Ash Meadows ecosystem. The Crystal Spring drainage and the Jackrabbit/Big Spring drainages are significant tributaries of Carson Slough and drain large portions of the Refuge. Two primary aquifers, a regional carbonate aquifer and a local valley-fill aquifer, are present. Water is generally retained within the wetlands and alkali flats that sustain many of the Refuge’s endemic plants, as well as some endemic fish and wildlife species (BLM 2007). The persistence of this water since the late Pliocene/early Pleistocene has allowed for the continued existence of relict plants and animals which gained access to the region during pluvial climates. The isolation of these species in this harsh environment permitted their differentiation from related taxa and resulted in the distinctive character of many present-day occupants (Reveal 1980). The onset of more xeric conditions isolated Ash Meadows, thereby 77
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December 2012 Number 1 - Utah Native Plant Society

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