Upper Columbia Basin Network limber pine community dynamics 2011 annual monitoring report: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

Stucki, Devin; Rodhouse, Thomas

Limber pine (Pinus flexilis) at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (CRMO) is one of 14 vital signs identified in the long-term monitoring plan for the Upper Columbia Basin Network (UCBN). Limber pine is one of several white pine species susceptible to the invasive pathogen white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola) which has decimated stands throughout the Intermountain West and portions of the Pacific West. Limber pine trees are vulnerable to invasive pathogens as well as other stressors including native pathogens and climate-change induced drought and have been recognized as a high priority vital sign for CRMO. Although pathogen and insect infestations at CRMO are currently not high, declining trends in some populations observed in white pine populations in the Cascade and Rocky Mountain ranges, coupled with the identification of incipient blister rust and mountain pine beetle infestations in the park, is cause for significant concern about the future status of these valuable communities. Monitoring limber pine community dynamics will allow CRMO to detect changes in the ecological condition of this community and perhaps to initiate more effective management intervention. Monitoring information from this project will also contribute meaningfully to the broader regional assessment of the status and trend of white pine species across western North America. Limber pine monitoring in CRMO is being closely coordinated with high-elevation whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana) monitoring in the Klamath and Sierra Nevada Networks, which includes the use of a common protocol (McKinney et al. in revision). Protocol implementation began at CRMO with the installation of the first of three rotating panels, each consisting of a random sample of 30 permanent 50 x 50 m (2500 m2) plots, in June-July, 2011. Two additional plots were also established and surveyed, for a total of 32 plots, and these will be incorporated into panel 2 during the 2013 field season. The data collected from this monitoring program will be used to quantify limber pine forest dynamics as identified in the monitoring objectives, i.e., species composition and structure, birth, death and growth rates, cone production, and the incidence of infection and infection severity by white pine blister rust, pine beetles, and dwarf mistletoe. In 2011, no incidences of white pine blister rust or mountain pine beetle attacks were found within the sampled plots, although there is an active blister rust infection in a small stand of limber pine trees in the north end of the monument. Dwarf mistletoe was found in 26% of the live limber pine trees. There were no active signs of mountain pine beetle infestation, although park staff report an increasing frequency of beetle-killed limber pine trees scattered throughout the northern portion of the monument. The average number of limber pine trees per plot was only 13 with a maximum of 73 trees. Seventy-one percent of live limber pine trees (n=413) had produced female cones. These results provide important baseline descriptions of CRMO’s unique limber pine population, which occurs on the lower elevation periphery of the species’ range.

Upper Columbia Basin Network limber pine community dynamics 2011 annual monitoring report: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

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