Hager Lake Vegetation Study: Sixty Years of Changes

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Abstract:

Peatlands form a rare habitat in the Panhandle region of Idaho. They are separated by nearly 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the vast peatlands of the northern latitudes of North America (Bursik and Moseley 1995). Peatlands are wetlands that have water-logged substrates and at least 30 centimeters (one foot) of accumulated organic matter called peat. Peat soils characteristically have low oxygen and low nutrients for plant growth. Plants growing in this environment must have many special adaptations to survive. Valley peatlands occur around lakes at low elevations. A fen is a type of peatland that receives significant inputs of water and minerals as runoff from surrounding land areas (Chaddle, et al. 1998). The Hager Lake fen is an excellent example of a valley peatland. It has high biodiversity that is valuable in Idaho because it contains many populations of plant species that are rare within the state (Bursik and Moseley 1992). Hager Lake and its flora are very well studied. Dr. John Rumely conducted a study of the plant ecology at Hager Lake from 1952 through 1955. He published the results of the study in his doctoral thesis (Rumely 1956). In 1992, Robert Bursik and Robert Moseley of the Idaho Conservation Data Center (now Idaho Natural Heritage Program) set out to identify the changes that had occurred in Hager Lake’s vegetation in the intervening 40 years. With the assistance of Dr. Rumely, they replicated the original study as closely as possible (Bursik and Moseley 1992). Wanting to continue the legacy of scientific study at Hager Lake, Archie and Mary George (the property owners) asked Dr. Lynn Kinter of the Idaho Natural Heritage Program to complete a 60-year follow-up study to the two previous studies. Lacking funding for a professional crew to conduct the study, she approached the Pend Oreille Chapter of the Idaho Master Naturalist Program about completing the study as a volunteer project. The master naturalists from chapter took on the study with the assistance of members of the Idaho Native Plant Society and the sponsorship of Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Twenty-six volunteers contributed 64 days of field work for the project. This report documents the methods and results of the study. For ease of reference, the figures for this document have been placed in Attachment 1 beginning on page 25 and the tables have been placed in Attachment 2 beginning on page 74.