Attachement1_rareplantprotocol.pdf

SURVEY PROTOCOL for SENSITIVE and RARE PLANTS on the Tongass National Forest

July 19, 2011

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this document is to provide survey protocols for botanists conducting sensitive and rare plant surveys on the Tongass National Forest (NF). These survey protocols are intended to help improve the quality and consistency of these surveys across the Forest.

Four final products are required for rare plant surveys: 1) a botanical report which discloses survey locations, survey methods (inlcuding pre-field review documentation), results and conclusions of the surveys conducted; 2) electronic files of survey and EO data in a format compatible with import into the Forest Service NRIS database (as specified by the project manager or contract); 3) two GIS feature layers created to spatially document the rare plant survey (polygons) and element occurrences (polygons) and 4) rare plant specimens/vouchers collected for verifying species identifications and for overall survey documentation.

2.0 FOREST PLAN DIRECTION RELATED TO BOTANICAL RESOURCES

The Forest Plan Amendment Biodiversity and Plants Goals and Objectives Statements (page 2-4 and 2-

5) (USDA 2008) outlines the rationale for botanical surveys:

Biodiversity:

Goal: Maintain ecosystems capable of supporting the full range of native and desired non-native species and ecological process. Maintain a mix of representative habitats at different spatial and temporal scales.

Objective A: Ensure that the reserve system meets the minium size, spacing, and composition criteria described in Appendix [of the Forest Plan Amendment].

Objective B: Provide sufficient habitat to preclude the need for listing species under the Endangered Species Act, or from becoming listed as Sensitive due to National Forest habitat changes.

Objective C: Manage the Forest in order to reduce, minimize, or eliminate the potential for introduction, establishment, spread and impacts of invasive species.

Objective D: Develop a baseline estimate of current habitat types, patterns and structural components on the Tongass National Forest.

Plants:

Goal: Maintain viable plant communities and populations. Maintain a mixture of habitats that are capable of supporting the full range of naturally occurring flora, including a variety of vegetation types, botanical life forms, patterns, structural components, and the consideration of rare species.

Objective: Prevent species from becoming listed as threatened, endangered or sensitive.

Currently, the Tongass N.F. has a substantial gap in our understanding of the Forest’s rare flora. In depth surveys have been conducted within management areas associated with timber sale, recreation, minerals, hydroelectric and other projects, however these surveys represent only a fraction of the landscape as well as a skewed sample of rare plant habitats overall.

Additional rare plant surveys will aid in promoting coastal ecosystem conservation through building on previous plant inventories of the Tongass N.F. In addition to gathering distribution and population-level data on species of conservation concern (sensitive and rare plants), a survey of the Forest would aid our understanding of overall floristic patterns and can be used to aid wildlife, vegetation mapping and conservation projects, including the Forest Conservation Strategy. In particular, this project will facilitate our ability to answer the Forest Plan Monitoring question for Ecosystem Biodiversity: “What are the cumulative effects of changes to habitats that sustain rare plants?”

This information is essential for the development of rare plant habitat probability maps which will help focus sensitive and rare plant surveys for project level NEPA documentation, as well as be linked to conversation assessments and strategies of the Forest’s listed sensitive plants. Finally, a better understanding of habitat conditions of rare plants is needed for overall NEPA analysis of direct, indirect and cumulative effects.

3.0 SURVEY OBJECTIVES

The objective of the Tongass N.F. sensitive and rare plant surveys is to locate and document sensitive and rare plant taxa, their abundance and distributions, within pre-determined landscapes on the Tongass N.F.

4.0 SURVEY PROTOCOLS

This section discusses the pre-field planning phase, survey types and intensity of field surveys, and data management. Further it describes the plant collections and identification, and timing of surveys.

Identification of specific habitats for conducting detailed surveys is typcially evaluated in several stages with each subsequent stage looking at information on a more detailed scale than the previous stage.

Within the final stage there are two levels of survey intensity used by the surveyor.

4.1 Survey Plan: A survey plan is the end product of a thorough pre-field analysis of the survey areas and plant species of interest. The pre-field analysis will identify the target species, select sites for survey in every habitat classification with potential to support those species, and distribute the sites across the landscape to obtain an understanding of species distribution.

A list of target species for the survey is developed in a multi-step process, beginning with identification of the species of interest. The species of interest include those on the Statewide list of rare plant (Alaska Natural Heritage Program S1, S2 and S3 – see Appendix B; this list includes all species designated sensitive on the Tongass National Forest); additional species of interest may be included from the Tongass National Forest Rare Plant List. Target species are defined as those plant species listed in these sources that have the potential to occur within the designated survey areas.

In order to determine potential for occurrence, an extensive review of available botanical studies is conducted to determine known occurrences of the species as well as the characteristics of the habitat they are associated with. Target species are grouped by major habitats and, for very narrowly adapted species, by the microhabitats in which they are expected to occur.

The list of target species and their associated habitats is used during the selection of survey sites to ensure that survey efforts are focused on habitats with potential to support target species, and that habitats are selected to provide the potential for finding all targeted species.

It should be noted that experienced botanists and ecologist on the Tongass N.F. have found a correlation between rare plant occurrence and the lithologic contact between rock types (for example, carbonates and non-carbonates). Of particular interest to include in the survey plan should be where two geologic types meet as faults or other contacts.

An important component of pre-field planning is consultation with local experts: local botanists, ecologist, geologist and others who are familiar with the area in terms of potential suitable habitat, known unique qualities of certain locations and overall logistics of the area. It is expected that an appropriate allocation of time, commensurate with the project size, would be devoted to this consultation process during the pre-field analysis (preferably in person where the team reviews maps and all relevant data).

Once the areas to be surveyed have been identified within a landscape, the botanist will develop a survey plan, which includes:

1) A list of the target plant species and associated habitats suspected to occur in or near the project area (Appendix A, B and C).

2) Any known target species of sensitive or rare plant populations that currently exists in the project area. Reference the following sources:

• USFS Natural Resource Information System Threatened, Endangered, Sensitive Plant database (NRIS TESP)

• Alaska Natural Heritage Program database (AKNHP)

• ARCTOS database (University of Alaska, Fairbanks)

• USFS Region 10 Sensitive species report which provides a general overview of several of the species of interest (Appendix F)

3) Maps and aerial photographs which show the existing roads, harvest units, conservation areas

(e.g. old-growth reserves, beach fringe, etc.) and Land Use Designations (LUDs).

4) A final plan and map for sites to be surveyed within each survey area.

4.2 Survey Types: Two types of surveys are typically used for landscape-level rare plant surveys:

General and Focused.

The Focused, or Intuitive Controlled, survey is the most commonly used and most efficient method of surveying for TES plants. During pre-field analysis, potential suitable habitat is identified for each species of interest and the survey effort is focused in those areas. This method requires adequate knowledge of suitable habitat in order to accurately select the areas of focused searching. When conducting intuitive controlled surveys, an area somewhat larger than the identified suitable habitat should be searched to validate current suitable habitat definitions.

The General survey is one where the area visited is given a closer review by walking through the area and its perimeter or by walking more than once through the area. Most of the area is examined.

Criteria for determining how to proportion the survey time between general and focused may include:

• Presence of micro-habitats at the site that have not had significant survey time within the larger project area.

• Uniformity of plant community types throughout the survey area.

• Time spent documenting EOs, and amount of time and area remaining to be reviewed.

• Relative rarity of target species (for example, species of local interest versus S1 species or Forest

Service Sensitive species).

Depending upon the habitat to be surveyed and the target species, the site survey may be weighted more on broader survey observation techniques covering more area, or weighted more towards focused detailed observations covering a smaller area. For example, when searching for large, generalist target species over widespread plant communities (such as Platanthera orbiculata in mature coniferous forest), the surveyor may spend the majority of the day traversing at a moderate pace through the site. When searching for tiny, specialist species in microsite habitats (such as Asplenium trichomanes on carbonate rock), the botanist may move very quickly through the site in search of rock outcrops which will be examined in detail. All surveys consist of a combination of balancing the habitat level versus plant level observations. The balance between the two survey levels may be adjusted to respond to observed conditions during the survey day. Note that the R10 TESP (Sensitive/Rare Plant) Survey Form (Appendix D) allows recording of more than one survey type during a survey.

4.3 Survey Intensity: The survey intensity required for sensitive and rare plants is called the “Timed Meander” (Goff 19821). This is where the botanist conducts the field day survey based on intuitive judgment and knowledge of suitable habitat gained through the pre-field review and previous field experience of the investigator. The surveyor traverses through the survey site enough to see representative major habitats and topographic features, and conducts a complete survey with 100 percent visual examination at locations of high probability of finding target species. Species are recorded on a field data form as they are encountered. It will be the botanist’s responsibility to employ this survey type within the pre-determined survey areas, focusing on habitats that contain characteristics associated with sensitive and rare plants.

4.4 Plant Collections and Unknown Plant Identification: Collect plant specimens of all sensitive, rare, range extensions, and any unknown plants to verify identification and document the overall survey.

Collect the minimum portion of the plant necessary for identification. For example, Botrychium plants can be safely collected by removing only the vegetative portion and leaving the roots intact. If it has been determined that a plant specimen is necessary, the following guidelines must be met:

1) Collect a specimen or portion of a specimen only if there is a viable population within sight (arbitrarily set at 5 individuals).

2) Press and dry the specimen as soon as possible.

3) Complete a typed data label for each specimen (see Appendix G for USFS label template).

Labels should include the full taxonomic name with author(s) (if known), geographic coordinates in decimal degrees, brief location description, brief description of habitat, brief list of associated species, date, and collector name and number. Consult the Flora of North America for correct taxonomic nomenclature.

4) All specimens must be thoroughly pressed and dried, un-mounted in newspaper, one species per folded sheet of newsprint, and submitted to the Forest Service with data labels by the end of each field season.

5) Take high resolution digital photographs, especially if the population is too small for collecting.

6) If the specimen is a lichen or bryophyte, place in a paper bag or folded paper envelope. Dry thoroughly in the receptacle before packing for transport, if possible.

1 1982. Goff, F. Glenn, Gary A. Dawson and John J. Rochow. Site Examination for Threatened and Endangered Plant Speices. Envoronmental Management Vol. 6 No. 4. pp 307-336.

4.5 Timing of Surveys: Surveys will be conducted during the flowering season for all plant species. In general, the flowering season for most rare plants on the Tongass NF begins in early to mid-June and ends in early to mid-August depending on seasonal variations.

4.6 Data Management: A data manager shall be identified that is responsible for monitoring and coordinating timely entry of electronic data during the field survey. Tabular field data will be entered into the NRIS database, or managed electronically in a format that is compatible with import into the Forest Service NRIS database.

5.0 PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE REQUIRED

Experience in and knowledge of plant taxonomy is essential to positive field identification of sensitive and rare plants. Familiarity with the regional flora is also very useful. In light of this correlation between experience and success in plant surveys, it is necessary to invest in botanists who have the ability to identify plants in the coastal Pacific Northwest region. Experience working anywhere in the region that spans from coastal northern California to South-Central Alaska is recommended.

This survey protocol requires a professional-level botanist with expertise in 1) rare plant identification;

2) USFS survey protocols; 3) summary of survey results; 4) data entry / data management; and 5) processing of plant specimens. The following qualifications are required to meet minimum professional standards:

1. 12 semester hours in botany from an accredited University.

2. Of the 12 semester hours in botany, 4 credits in Plant Taxonomy, at a minimum, is required.

3. A minimum of three years of actual training and experience in conducting rare plant surveys.

Surveyors must be able to:

1. Positively identify plants using a dichotomous key.

2. Recognize sensitive plants, other rare plants and non-native plants.

3. Recognize "look-a-likes".

4. Write summary reports and use standard computer software for research and data entry.

6.0 INFORMATION TO REPORT

1. Field Forms:

a. Surveys: Each survey requires completion of a R10 TESP (Sensitive/Rare Plant) Survey Form (Appendix D).

b. Rare Plant Occurrences: All target species of sensitive, rare and range extension plants that are found require completion of a R10 TESP (Sensitive/Rare Plant) Element Occurrence Form (Appendix E). All surveys and element occurrences will be documented in two separate GIS feature layer (polygons) for spatial accuracy.

c. Location of sensitive and rare plants will be documented on field forms using decimal degrees with a preferred accuracy of no less than 100 meters (better accuracy is desired) derived from recreational grade GPS receiver.

2. Aerial Photographs: All survey routes will be delineated on aerial photographs. Pin-pricks of any occurrences along with SITEID (from field form) will be provided on the back side of aerial photographs.

3. Survey Plant Checklist: Check off all vascular plants observed during each survey on a Daily Survey Plant Checklist (Appendix H); write in any species not already on the checklist. These lists are important tools for documenting plant ranges and their status. The SurveyID, date, and location must be clearly and accurately written on the checklist which is attached to the survey form and route map.

4. Electronic tabular data of all the required data elements contained within the TESP Survey and EO forms (see Appendix I, J and K for definition of data fields) in a format compatible with import into the Forest Service NRIS database.

5. Original hard copy field forms and electronic files (pdf format) of all field documentation.

6. A botanical report of the surveys conducted. The report will follow standard scientific report style as shown in any biological science journal or publication (Introduciton, Description of Project Area, Survey Methods, Results, Conclusion, Literatutre cited).