December 2012 Number 1 - Utah Native Plant Society

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Utah Native Plant Society Meadows Road, as well as just north of Devils Hole Road in the Collins Ranch area, east of Crystal Reservoir and between the south end of Lower Crystal Marsh and the Refuge boundary. Due to a short bloom time, several occurrences west of the Refuge office were not surveyed in 2008. The total estimated population at this time is 376,632 individuals, a number that will likely increase upon completion of surveys. Ash Meadows Ivesia (Ivesia kingii): Endemic to the Refuge, Ash Meadows ivesia is a federally-listed threatened species. It is a perennial plant with a prostrate growth form. As is the case with many of the endemic Refuge plants, there is little current information regarding its abundance. According to the USFWS, the distribution of this species is limited to Nye County, Nevada, and likely limited to within AMNWR boundaries. Population estimates by the NNHP in the 1980s indicated there were as many as nine occurrences; these areas contained an estimated 3,862 individuals (Morefield 2001). The majority of the 2008 surveys confirmed populations occurring within historic distribution areas on the Refuge. However, field crew members were unable to locate plants within several previously documented areas believed to contain populations and extant populations appeared significantly smaller. However, a visit in the Jackrabbit Spring area led to the discovery of several new populations. New populations, fairly large in size, were also surveyed in close proximity to West Spring Meadows Road where it makes a sharp turn to the west. Also, multiple, substantial populations were located and surveyed between Crystal Reservoir and West Spring Meadows Road. Another population was documented in a seepage area interrupting an upland habitat just east of the Cold Spring private property. Finally, populations occurring just north and south of Big Springs Road were surveyed. The current estimated population of Ash Meadows ivesia is 486,798 individuals (Table 3). Ash Meadows Blazingstar (Mentzelia leucophylla): This endemic biennial herb was listed as a threatened species in 1985. The plant’s distribution appears to be strictly limited to areas within the Refuge (Morefield 2001; Otis Bay and Stevens Ecological Consulting 2006). Recent information regarding species abundance is limited. Surveys in 1986 documented M. leucophylla from 8 locations with an estimated population of 358 individuals (Morefield 2001). Distribution maps provided by the Refuge from 2006 internal surveys show confirmed populations at Purgatory, the Warm Springs Complex, and along West Spring Meadows Road. Additional populations of Ash Meadows blazingstar were discovered during surveys for Ash Meadows sunray and Ash Meadows milkvetch. Because of its biennial life form, M. leucophhylla was observed in rosette as well as in flower. Starting in mid-March, BIOWEST field crews began recording populations south of Peterson Road near the Cold Spring private property boundary. In addition, new blazingstar populations were documented just south of Rogers Spring and west of Longstreet Road, intermixed with a large white bearpoppy population southeast of the Warm Springs Complex access road and directly north of the “T” junction of South Spring Meadows Road and West Spring Meadows Road. These populations were surveyed and their boundaries extended. The estimated population is 3,763 individuals (Table 3). Blue-Eyed Grass Species (Sisyrinchium species): Previously, three species of blue-eyed grass were thought to occur at the Refuge: Death Valley blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium funereum), Nevada blue-eyed grass (S. halophilum), and St. George blue-eyed grass (S. radicatum) (C. Baldino 2007 pers. comm.). However, Cholewa (in letter, 2003) suggested that S. halophilum probably does not extend as far south as the refuge. She based her statement on the discovery that many herbarium specimens that had been identified as that species were incorrect. Blue-eyed grass species are extremely difficult to differentiate, so there is ongoing debate and confusion as to exactly which species actually exist on the Refuge. Such problems are not new in Sisyrinchium. Specieslevel taxonomy of Sisyrinchium has long been disputed. Recent molecular work has clarified the limits of the genus and helped identify important morphological characters delineating it from closely related genera (Karst, unpublished). However, much more phylogenetic work, based on cladistic analysis of molecular data, is needed to understand species relationships within the genus (Cholewa and Henderson 2002). Species of Sisyrinchium are not easily distinguished. White flowers may occur in otherwise blue-flowered species, and vivipary occasionally occurs, where plants produce seeds that germinate before they detach from the parent. Furthermore, vegetative characteristics, while distinctive in some species, may overlap greatly in wide-ranging species. Writers of past floras sometimes were unaware of such phenotypic plasticity, or were inconsistent in their use of terminology. Some taxonomists have thought differences too subtle and chosen to lump species (Cholewa and Henderson 1984, 2002). Because of the taxonomic confusion surrounding the blue-eyed grass plants growing within refuge boundaries, the BIO-WEST 2008 field surveys combined all occurrences of blue-eyed grass into a Sisyrinchium spp. category. As documented by Cholewa and Henderson (2002), Sisyrinchium funereum populations occur mostly within Death Valley. These populations contain numerous individuals. Sisyrinchium radicatum is more widely distributed, growing in Clark, Nye, and Lincoln Counties, 88
Calochortiana December 2012 Number 1 Nevada, and Washington County, Utah. In Clark County, it occurs in Pine Canyon and Ash Spring and is also known from Pine Creek and Red Rock Canyon- Calico Basin in the Spring Mountains. In Nye County, it is known from Big Springs in Ash Meadows, and Pahrump Valley. In Lincoln County, it is known from Pahranagat lakes and Pahranagat Valley – Ash Springs. The threats to these populations are currently unknown. Sisyrinchium demissum is a closely related species that overlaps the known range of the two species known to occur on AMNWR. Known populations of blue-eyed grass were visited and surveyed throughout the Refuge. Several previously undiscovered populations were documented including occurrences just south and east of Jackrabbit Spring. Large populations were surveyed in the area directly south of Crystal Reservoir, expanding habitat from the 2007 findings. New populations were also located adjacent to the Cold Springs private property, with the large Ash Meadows ladies-tresses population northeast of Rogers Spring but south of Longstreet Road, and in a spring drainage leading from the eastern Refuge border in the north section of the Refuge. The estimated blueeyed grasses population is 99,822 individuals (Table 3). Ash Meadows ladies-tresses (Spiranthes infernalis): A Refuge endemic, Ash Meadows ladies- tresses is currently being considered for Federal listing (Otis Bay and Stevens Ecological Consulting 2006). NNHP survey records from 1998 show 15 locations with an estimated population of 1107 individuals (Morefield 2001). New populations documented during the 2008 survey were found in several seep habitats The population was estimated at 14,209 individuals. Several occurrences were observed late in the field season when the plants had passed the flowering period and will be revisited during 2009. Because there can be significant variability in the number of individuals that bloom from season to season, it may be necessary to revisit surveyed locations to determine an accurate population estimate after new locations are added. The 2008 rare plant surveys of the twelve sensitive and endemic species that exist at AMNWR revealed larger populations and new locations of additional populations of these species than had been previously documented and aided in determining clearer population estimates, population location boundaries, and the associated vegetation communities these species exist in. Additional planned surveys in 2009 may aid in more accurately determining the biogeography of the rare, endemic and listed Plants of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. REFERENCES Ballard, L.S. 2008. Sampling protocols for rare plants at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. BIO- WEST, Inc. Beatley, J.C. 1977. Threatened plant species of the Nevada Test Site, Ash Meadows, and central-southern Nevada. 66 pps. BIO-WEST, Inc. 2007. Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. 2007 Draft Progress Report. Logan, Utah. BIO-WEST, Inc. 2008. Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. 2008 Draft Progress Report. Logan, Utah. [BLM] U.S. Bureau of Land Management. 2007. Amargosa River Area of Critical Environmental Concern Implementation Plan. Barstow (CA): BLM. 19 p. plus appendices and maps. Cholewa, A. F. and D.M. Henderson. 1984. Biosystematics of Sisyrinchium Section Bermudiana (Iridadeae) of the Rocky Mountains. Brittonia 36: 342- 364. Cholewa, A.F. and D.M. Henderson. 2002. Sisyrinchium. Pp 351-371. In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee. Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 26. Magnoliophyta: Liliidae: Liliales and Orchidales. Fraser J. and C. Martinez C. 2002. Restoring a desert oasis. Endangered Species Bulletin 27:18–19. Grossman, D.H., D. Faber-Landgendoen, A.S. Weakley, M. Anderson, P. Bourgeron, R. Crawford, K. Gooding, S. Landaal, K. Metzler, K. Patterson, M. Pyne, M. Reid, and L. Sneddon. 1998. International classification of ecological communities: Terrestrial vegetation of the United States. Volume I: The national Vegetation Classification Standard. The Nature Conservancy, Arlingon, Va. Knight, T.A., and G.H. Clemmer. 1987. Status of Populations of the Endemic Plants of Ash Meadows, Nye County, Nevada. Reno, NV: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Great Basin Complex. Also available online at http://heritage.nv.gov/reports/ashmtext.pdf MacMahon, J.A. 2000. Warm Deserts. Pages 285- 322 in North American Terrestrial Vegetation. M.G. Barbour and W.D. Billings eds. 2 nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. McKelvey S. 2007. The feasibility of restoring historic Carson Slough. Las Vegas: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 16 p. Morefield, J.D., ed. 2001. Nevada Rare Plant Atlas. Compiled by the Nevada Natural Heritage Program. Portland, OR: Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon and Reno, Nevada. http://heritage.nv.gov/atlas/ atlastxt.pdf. 89
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December 2012 Number 1 - Utah Native Plant Society

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