Tara Luna

Forbs: Foundation for Restoration of Monarch Butterflies, other Pollinators, and Greater Sage-Grouse in the Western United States

ABSTRACT: Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus), other pollinators, and Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are currently the focus of increased conservation efforts. Federal attention on these fauna is encouraging land managers to develop conservation strategies, often without corresponding financial resources. This could foster a myopic approach when allocating resources and setting restoration priorities, and at best, allow for inefficiencies in the usage of land management resources, or, at worst, pit one species (or suite of species, e.g., pollinators) against another (e.g., sage-grouse). Instead, investing holistically by linking conservation of these fauna may provide improved leverage of available resources and more benefit to the landscape. Fortunately, on the western US rangelands, these fauna can all benefit from restoration that increases the abundance and diversity of forbs. Establishing high density islands of outplanted forb seedlings may be a way to expedite restoration. Managers establishing forbs for pollinators (including monarchs) would further increase food availability for greater sage-grouse and vice versa. Adding milkweeds (Asclepias spp.) in appropriate areas to forb mixtures for restoration is warranted because they are excellent nectar sources for pollinators in general and the sole host for monarch larvae in particular. Here, we provide an overview of why forb species are keystone for monarch butterflies, other pollinators, and Greater Sage-Grouse and how seeding and outplanting seedlings of specific forbs are critical to restoration efforts.

Vegetative Propagation Of Coastal Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (Lamb. ex D. Don) Endl.)

Vegetative propagation can be used for coastal redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (Lamb. ex D. Don) Endl. [Cupressaceae]). Techniques may vary among propagators, but overall, rooting percentages improve when young seedlings are the source of donor wood. As the age of the donor plant increases, concentrations of rooting hormone should also increase to maximize success. At the outplanting stage, relatively cool air and soil temperatures are important factors for survival of the rooted cuttings.

Propagation Protocol for Rock Evening Primrose Oenothera caespitosa Nutt.

Rock evening primrose (Oenothera caespitosa Nutt. [Onagraceae]) is readily grown from seeds. Mature capsules are collected between late summer and early fall. Seeds are removed from capsules by drying them for 4 wk in paper bags. Any capsules that have not yet opened on their own after drying can be opened manually. Seeds must be stratified for about 120 d to ensure germination. Seedlings can be grown to sufficient size in 1 y for outplanting using a standard medium and fertilizer.

Cymbopleura laszlorum spec. nov. (Cymbellaceae, Bacillariophyceae), a glacial relic from a calcium-rich floodplain fen in southwestern Montana, USA

Cymbopleura laszlorum is described using LM and SEM microscopy from a recently rehabilitated floodplain fen in southwestern Montana, USA. The new species is most similar to C. mongolica and C. stauroneiformis and shares features with several other northern/alpine species. Cymbopleura laszlorum lives in cold, calcareous, spring-fed pools where it is associated with Mastogloia lacustris , Cymbopleura florentina and Epithemia argus . The fen also supports three rare vascular plants that have northern/alpine affinities. These diatom and vascular plant associates and the close morphological resemblance of C. laszlorum to C. mongolica and C. stauroneiformis suggest that the new species is a glacial relic and survives at the type locality because it has retained the muskeg-like conditions that were more widespread during the last glacial period. Wetland habitats that support rare species of vascular plants are also likely to support new and rare species of diatoms.

An Extremely Rich Fen on the Plains of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Montana

ABSTRACT: An 8-ha, extremely rich fen, surrounded by saline wet meadows, occurs on the western edge of mixed-grass prairie in the northwestern Great Plains, 47 km east of the Montana Rocky Mountain Front. The site occurs on an outwash plain near the junction of Pleistocene-age continental and mountain glaciers and on the western edge of former glacial Cut Bank Lake. Five wetland plant communities are described from this site. A total of 93 vascular plant and 65 diatom species have been found. Twelve diatom taxa could not be identified with available floras and one has been confirmed as new to science. Both diatoms and vascular plants indicate a locally disjunct, post-glacial assemblage similar to those found in boreal and mountainous habitats, adapted to alkaline waters. Saline-influenced, extremely rich fens are a rare sub-type of peatland in the northern Great Plains, and contain high diatom and vascular plant species richness as well as rare taxa.