EXHIBIT H - Field Identification of Whitebark vs Limber Pine .pdf

Identifying Whitebark versus Limber Pine in the Field

In RMRS-FIA, whitebark and limber pines are thought to co-occur in Montana, Nevada, central Idaho, and western Wyoming. Currently, whitebark pine is not known to grow in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, or New Mexico. See this guide, High Elevation White Pines, to view coarse-scale maps of approximate geographic distributions for both limber and whitebark pines. Click on these links for a finer-scale look at whitebark and limber pine predicted distributions. (Note: do not rely on range maps as definitive sources on the distribution of tree species.)

Cones: The easiest, most obvious, and accurate way to tell the difference between whitebark and limber pine is by their cones. If a tree is producing cones, they can be seen in the top canopy. Typically, old and occasionally chewed-off branches of fresh whitebark pine cones can be found scattered on the forest floor close to the trunk. Whitebark cones are deep purple in color, squat, thick, and sappy. They are extremely tight and difficult to open when they are fresh.

Whitebark cones are 2-3 inches in length whereas limber cones are 3- 8 inches long. Whitebark cones are purple and turn dark brown and don't flare open when mature. Limber cones are green and turn grayish brown and flare open when mature. Whitebark pine has a two-year cone.

This means, miniatures of the mature cone (about 1 inch long) appear in the first year, with the cone growing to maturity in the second year. Due to the fact that they are highly sought after by wildlife, intact, fresh whitebark cones rarely remain in the canopy once they have matured. Often, the remains or skeleton of the outer shell of a cone can be seen in the canopy after birds have eaten the fleshy seeds from the inside.

In contrast, limber pine cones are green in color and are significantly longer and thinner than whitebark. Because they are less sought after by wildlife, they tend to remain in the canopy, gradually turn brown, open their bracts, and eventually fall to the ground. It is more typical to find limber pine cones on the forest floor at the base of the tree than whitebark cones.

If cones are not visible, there is a period of time (early spring through late July-mid August) that the young male “catkin-like” cones or strobili, can be found on the terminal ends of the branches of both species. Young trees will begin producing these male pollen cones (strobili) many years before they produce any female pollen cones, making this a useful tool for smaller, younger whitebark pines.

The young whitebark male cones (strobili) and female cones are all bright red to deep purple, whereas the young limber pine cones (both male and female) are generally green-yellow (note: the exception to this is that for a very short time in early spring, the male

1. Whitebark pine cones. Photo courtesy of Lisa Landenburger from in the Interagency Whitebark Pine Monitoring Protocol for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

2. Limber pine cones. Photos courtesy of Lisa Landenburger from in the Interagency Whitebark Pine Monitoring Protocol for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

3. Early season "catkin-like" cones (aka, strobili) of whitebark pine. Note the bright pink-purple color. Photo courtesy of Karla Sartor from in the Interagency Whitebark Pine Monitoring Protocol for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/highelevationwhitepines/About/dist.htm https://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_albicaulis.php https://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_flexilis.php https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 immature cones of limber pine can also appear red). Later in the season (mid August- September), the whitebark “catkin- like” male strobili will begin to turn dark brown as they age. The limber pine “catkin-like” strobili begin to turn a more tan color as they age.

In a situation where a mixed stand is encountered, use cone identification as the main tool to identify between the two species.

Next, look at the immature female/male cones on the ends of the branches. Keep in mind the “note” mentioned above: If you encounter a tree that has just a few red “catkins” and green-yellow “catkins”, it is most likely limber pine. Make sure you survey the tree entirely before you draw any conclusions as to which species the tree belongs. If it is still unclear as to which species of conifers you are encountering and you cannot, with 100% confidence, collect a sample of six needle fascicles (groups) as described at the beginning of this document, put them in a properly labeled envelope, and send the sample to Ogden for genetic identification.

Elevation, substrate, and growth habit all provide clues to aid in the identification process, but none of these should be used solely to differentiate whitebark and limber pine. Whitebarks tend to fare better at the highest elevations, while limber pines are more common than whitebarks at lower elevations 6,000 feet and below. Both species can co-occur at higher elevations. Limber pines tend to do better than other tree species on limestone parent material, whereas whitebark is more common on granitic soils, especially where Luzula hitchcockii is present. Whitebark often grow in clumps because they frequently originate from Clark’s nutcracker seed caches. While less common, limber pines can also be cached by Clark’s nutcrackers and originate in clumps.

Presence or absence of cone-bearing trees nearby is not necessarily an indicator of presence/absence of whitebark pine or limber pine. Both species (but especially whitebark) are propagated by the Clark’s nutcracker, a bird that

5. This clumpy growth form, with multiple stems originating from one location, is common for whitebark pines. This occurs because their closed cones are harvested by Clark's nutcrackers.

The birds then disperse the seeds in small caches. The bird’s unretrieved caches become the new cohort of trees. While the Clark’s nutcracker does demonstrate a preference for whitebark pines, they also cache limber pines. This means that clumping alone is not a reliable indicator that a given tree is a whitebark.- R.Simons photo

4. Whitebark pine strobili that are beginning to fade, with white pine blister rust canker in the background. R. Simons.

will fly long distances to cache seeds-and by squirrels, which also carry seeds some distance from the source. Whitebark pine cones do not open and typically do not propagate by seeds falling out of cones, whereas limber pine cones do open and do propagate from nearby limber pines. Due to the existence of an aerial seed transport mechanism (birds), a nearby seed source is not required to encounter whitebark or limber pines.

References and additional resources:

Adapted from Interagency Whitebark Pine Monitoring Protocol for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and resources listed here:

https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/12/1060/pdf https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/highelevationwhitepines/About/id.htm https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/highelevationwhitepines/About/dist.htm https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_int/int_gtr253.pdf https://rngr.net/publications/assisted-migration/whitebark-pine-operational-cone-collection-instructions-and-seed-transfer-guidelines https://oregonstate.edu/trees/conifer_genera/spp/pine_spp.html http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/portraits/whitebarkpine.htm http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=227 http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=176 https://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_flexilis.php https://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_albicaulis.php Thanks to Erin Shanahan from the Greater Yellowstone Inventory and Monitoring network in Bozeman, MT for help reviewing and revising this document.

https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/434245 https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/12/1060/pdf https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/highelevationwhitepines/About/id.htm https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/highelevationwhitepines/About/dist.htm https://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_int/int_gtr253.pdf https://rngr.net/publications/assisted-migration/whitebark-pine-operational-cone-collection-instructions-and-seed-transfer-guidelines https://rngr.net/publications/assisted-migration/whitebark-pine-operational-cone-collection-instructions-and-seed-transfer-guidelines https://oregonstate.edu/trees/conifer_genera/spp/pine_spp.html http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/portraits/whitebarkpine.htm http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=227 https://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_flexilis.php https://www.conifers.org/pi/Pinus_albicaulis.php