Monitoring Lepidium papilliferum (slickspot peppergrass) in southwestern Idaho 2002 results

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Slickspot peppergrass (Lepidium papilliferum) is an annual or biennial forb endemic to southwestern Idaho. It has been proposed for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act largely because much of its original sagebrush-steppe habitat has been destroyed or degraded over the past century. The majority of remaining known populations occur on Idaho BLM land, including the Idaho Army National Guard’s Orchard Training Range Area (OTA) southeast of Boise. In response to growing conservation concerns, a monitoring program was developed to assess conditions and monitor the rangewide, long-term ecological integrity of slickspot peppergrass habitat. The monitoring protocol consists of four integrated parts: a Habitat Integrity Index (HII) transect, plant community plot sampling, photo point photographs, and an occurrence viability scorecard. Baseline monitoring data were collected in 1998 at the majority of extant occurrences located on public land. Monitoring information was also collected in 1999, 2000, and 2001. A fifth consecutive year of monitoring was conducted at a subset of occurrences in 2002, and results are summarized in this report. <br> Overall, HII result patterns were similar to previous years, except 2002 was the first year evidence of livestock disturbance was recorded at less than half of the slickspot stations sampled. Less livestock disturbance sign was recorded at all transects compared to previous years, except for two in the Juniper Butte area. Regarding slickspot peppergrass abundance, the total number of plants tallied for the subset of transects sampled was 61% less than any prior year. More than half of the transects sampled had fewer plants than any previous year. Plant community plots were resampled only at transects in the OTA. Reduced total grass cover was recorded at six transects compared to baseline values. This was due to large decreases in cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) cover at four transects, and decreases in Sandberg’s bluegrass (Poa secunda) cover at two transects. Total forb cover was higher at three transects due to large increases in the cover of bur buttercup (Ranunculus testiculatus). Other species composition and associated cover class values were similar to baseline results. No new disturbances were observed in 2002 to reduce the viability rank of any of the occurrences visited. Habitat integrity trends were evaluated for all transects and are discussed in the report.

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Reference Code: U03MAN01IDUS <br>

Full Citation: Mancuso, M. 2003. Monitoring Lepidium papilliferum (slickspot peppergrass) in southwestern Idaho 2002 results., 2003. Idaho Conservation Data Center, Natural Resource Policy Bureau, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Boise, Idaho. 22 pp. plus appendic <br>

Location: ELECTRONIC FILE - BOTANY: PLANT SPECIES: {Lepidium papilliferum} <br>

Keywords: Lepidium papilliferum, slickspot peppergrass, Habitat Integrity Index, HII, southwestern Idaho, Idaho <br>