Field Surveys for Sacajawea’s Bitterroot (Lewisia sacajaweana) in the Central Idaho Mountains: 2013 Progress Report

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Sacajawea’s bitterroot (Lewisia sacajaweana) is a small, white-flowered, ground-hugging perennial herb endemic to the mountains of central Idaho. It is a Forest Service Region 4 Sensitive species and has a NatureServe conservation rank implying imperilment due to rarity or because other factors demonstrably make it very vulnerable to extinction. Prior to our research in 2013, Sacajawea’s bitterroot had been documented from approximately 39 occurrences, with information about most of them >15 years old. The US Fish and Wildlife Service and US Forest Service require updated occurrence information to better understand the rangewide conservation status, needs, and management options for Sacajawea’s bitterroot. In 2013, the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Office and Boise National Forest funded a project with the Idaho Natural Heritage Program to assess a subset of Sacajawea’s bitterroot occurrences and collect updated location, population, habitat, and threat information. This progress report summarizes results for 23 occurrences assessed during our 2013 field investigation. We failed to find plants at four occurrences, possibly due to the plants not being visible above-ground. Our failure to find plants at two other occurrences was probably due to searching the wrong area based on ambiguous location information. At a seventh occurrence, we determined the previous report of Sacajawea’s bitterroot was based on a mis-identification. Sacajawea’s bitterroot was found at the other 16 occurrences assessed. Many occurrences consisted of multiple subpopulations located in close proximity to each other, but separated by unsuitable or unoccupied habitat. Plants were found at only a subset of all previously reported subpopulations at three occurrences. One or more new subpopulations were documented at five occurrences. We found three occurrences substantially more extensive than previously reported, and verified the presence of Sacajawea’s bitterroot in one area previously reported as a tentative location.

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Reference Code: U13MAN02IDUS <br>

Full Citation: Mancuso, M., C.L. Kinter, and J.J. Miller. 2013. Field Surveys for Sacajawea’s Bitterroot (Lewisia sacajaweana) in the Central Idaho Mountains: 2013 Progress Report. Idaho Natural Heritage Program, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Boise. 11 pp. <br>

Location: ELECTRONIC FILE - BOTANY: PLANT SPECIES: {Lewisia sacajaweana} <br>

Keywords: Sacajawea’s bitterroot, Lewisia sacajaweana <br>