Idaho Biogeography
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A tour through the major landforms and ecosystems of the Columbia River headwaters in Idaho and adjacent Montana and Nevada. This presentation represents the culmination of a 6 month field season assessing habitat for endangered trout and salmon populations for the USFS.
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Idaho Biogeography
- 1. Biogeography: Summer 2012 Montana and Idaho (…and Nevada)
- 2. Conor M.S. Defense & Graduation
- 6. Welcome to the Scenic Interior Northwest
- 7. PIBO-EM: PACFISH INFISH Biological Opinion Effectiveness Monitoring
- 10. Big Picture: What ecological forces influence vegetation form and structure?
- 11. Montana • C:Documents and SettingsOwnerDesktopbitterroot
- 17. Central Rockies
- 19. Central Idaho
- 20. Granite!
- 45. Southern Idaho
- 49. NNeevvaaddaa..
- 61. Interior Northwest vveeggeettaattiioonn:: ccoolldd,, ddrryy,, ppoooorr,, && ddiissttuurrbbeedd ((ssnnooww aavvaallaanncchhee,, rroocckksslliiddeess,, ffiirree,, ssmmookkee))
- 62. Interior Northwest vveeggeettaattiioonn:: ccoolldd,, ddrryy,, ppoooorr,, && ddiissttuurrbbeedd ((ssnnooww aavvaallaanncchhee,, rroocckksslliiddeess,, ffiirree,, ssmmookkee)) ……..QQuueessttiioonnss??
Editor's Notes
- Thanks for
- Endagendered species protect act triggered, biological opinion, part of which focussed on stream habitat degradation from watershed management: logging and grazing. Since 1997, present form since 2002, >1,000 headwater stream monitored annually or 5-year repeat. Vegetation and geomorphology.
- Headwaters of columbia river / snake and salmon rivers in idaho. Steelhead and bull trout spawn over 1,000 miles upriver, obviously, salmon also.
- Redd. Large woody debris provide fish cover, substrate size important. PIBO project is a whole topic in itself. But while we were there we also happened to ask some broader ecological questions…
- TRANSECT! What ecological forces account for vegetation form and structure? Excellent place to look at vegetation patterns at the landscape level. We will take a north-south transect, with stops in Montana, Idaho (central batholith, southcentral mountains, and southern mountains), and Nevada basin-and-range.
- Resource-limited or competition? Post disturbance monopoly of single dominant species. Dependent on disturbance. Sparse understory. Guess! Xerophyllum tenax in NW, Xerophyllum asphodeloides in SE. Erysium=wallflower?
- Cornus canadensis. (Cornus stolonifera Red-Osier dogwood in streams) Rubus parviflorus. Equisetum. Spruce (Picea).
- Cornus canadensis
- Boise – 200,000 people
- Eriogonum flavum in foreground (Eriogonum diverse in West, only one species in SE ) granite bedrock
- Corydalis caseana
- Plantanthera dilatata, Gentian sp. Aconitum columbianum, carrots, Zygadenus venonsus. Sedges....
- Glacial valley geomorphology…peaceful bucolic scene…but dramatic ecological forces at
- Fire! 500,000 acres in Idaho= great triangle area, including jordan lake. In total US, an area equal to 1/5 North Carolina burned this year.
- http://www.nature.com/news/forest-fires-burn-out-1.11424
- Majority of susceptible forests have burned in last 15 years
- Future trajectory depends on whether further disturbance. Chamerion angustifolium
- “Salvage logging” and planting.
- Chapparal, diverse shrub mixture (as opposed to pine monoculture!) Artemesia tridentata in foreground. Philadelphus lewisii, Prunus virgniana, Apocynum androsaemifolium, Ceanothus, Sambucus,
- Note ponderosa and doug fir distribution
- Ponderosa.
- Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus = yellow rabbitbrush. Mt. Borah peak.-12,000. …Three-step stream geomorphology: confined channel
- Semi-confined channel. Floating fen. Grazing does not degrade.
- Unconfined channel. Grazing degrades fish habitat.
- Nonnative species. Verbascum thapsis growing large
- Verbascum blattria. Yellow: Ericameria nauseosa. Willows are salix exigua (heavily browsed)
- Native!~ Sphenosciadium capetallatum. Juniperus spp. on hills, Salix spp. (boothii?, exigua?, geyeriana?) in foreground.
- Castilleja sp? Scattered Pseduostuga menziesii upvalley. Different ecotype! Scattered “savanna” of Cercocarpus ledifolius = curl-leaf mountain mahogany. Open woodland of dwarfed trees….southern idaho P+J
- Note pinyon juniper in basin + range ALSO: “Western hardwoods”
- Pinus monophylla = Idaho pinyon pine in land, possibly Juniperus scopolorum & J. osteosperma mixed
- Grazing excludes woody establishment! Lawn… Pediocactus simpsonii in lower photo on left, Juniperus spp in background, Artemesia tridentata in middle ground
- Ribes cereum. Ribes diverse, abundant (~dominant upland shrub, with artemesia, Symphoricarpos ) in West…what would this stream look like even drier and hotter (in summer)….
- Interior Northwest Vegetation patterns: cold, dry, poor, disturbed by snow avalanche, rockslides, fire, smoke
- Interior Northwest Vegetation patterns: cold, dry, poor, disturbed by snow avalanche, rockslides, fire, smoke