Amsberry, Kelly , Meinke, Robert J. .
Responses of Botrychium pumicola to habitat manipulation in forested sites in central Oregon.
BOTRYCHIUM pumicola (Oregon moonwort), a xeric-adapted pteridophyte endemic to pumice substrates in central Oregon, is an unusual vascular plant species in that it is rare, formally listed as threatened under Oregon law, and inhabits areas that support marketable timber. The majority of globally rare species in Oregon occur in non-forested habitat, or, if associated with forested ecosystems, in sites unsuitable for timber harvest. Our seven year study investigated some of the effects of simulated timber harvest activities on B. pumicola, with the goal of providing information to Forest Service land managers for the development of conservation plans for this fern. Ninety-six individual plants at each of seven study sites on the Deschutes and Winema National Forests were subjected to one of six treatments selected to simulate potential effects of logging and roadbuilding (burial, compaction, scraping, clipping, shading, as well as untreated controls), and subsequently monitored for emergence, growth, and reproduction for five growing seasons. Sites varied in associated vegetation, soil structure and topography, requiring site-specific evaluation of treatment effects. Logistic regression analysis of emergence rates documented detrimental effects of scraping, compaction and burial in all sites, although the extent of the effect of the first two treatments varied among sites. Site dependent variation in the degree to which plants were affected depended on edaphic and ecological conditions; these conditions also resulted in variable potential for long-term recovery. Clipping and shading positively affected growth and emergence, although these effects were not significant in all sites, or in all years. Although the erratic emergence characteristic of B. pumicola, and lack of life history knowledge about this unusual fern ultimately make drawing conclusions regarding treatment effects difficult, our study provides data that are useful to land managers attempting to evaluate impacts of proposed disturbance regimes.
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1 - Oregon State University, Department of Botany & Plant Pathology, 2082 Cordley Hall, Corvallis, Oregon, 97331-2902, USA
rare plant conservation
Presentation Type: Poster:Posters for Sections
Location: Auditorium/Bell Memorial Union
Date: Tuesday, August 1st, 2006
Time: 12:30 PM