 |
| Conservation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Whitebark Pine Monitoring Project
This photo shows the cumulative effects of blister rust, mountain pine beetle, and lack of fire. Notice that the shade tolerant species such as spruce and subalpine fir have become established in the shade of the whitebark pine. With the lack of fire in conjunction with the mortality of the whitebark pine, the forest is converting from a predominately whitebark pine forest to a spruce and subalpine fir forest. 2005 photo.
In the Warrior Mountain area along the Swan Range there are few if any surviving whitebark pine trees. The only green trees in this particular photo are spruce and subalpine fir. All the whitebark pine trees are dead. 2002 photo.
Since 1998, Northwest Connections has been raising private funding to map whitebark pine conditions in both the Swan Range and Mission Mountains. Although this issue has major implications for watershed health, fire behavior and wildlife there has not been much federal investment in the assessment and restoration of this imperiled species.
Northwest Connections maintains permanent monitoring plots in several basins across the Swan Range including areas adjacent to Upper Holland Lake, Smith Creek Pass, Cat Lake, Pony Lake and Lion Creek Pass. We also maintain monitoring plots in the Mission Mountains on Lindy Peak, Hemlock Point, Mollman Ridge, and Cedar-Piper ridge. Periodically, Northwest Connections has provided volunteer crews for planting whitebark pine seedlings in recent burns. In 2003, our crews planted 2000 seedlings in the Jewel Basin in the north Swan Range.
Long-term Restoration Strategies for Whitebark Pine
in the Mission Mountains Wilderness
Located along the western edge of the NCDE, the Mission Mountain Wilderness serves as a stronghold for many threatened and endangered species innate to the Northern Rockies. In the upper subalpine ecosystems of this region, the whitebark pine is considered a keystone species. The presence of these trees increases the biodiversity of the area by providing a food source to a number of wildlife species that include not only Clark’s nutcrackers, red squirrels, and grizzly bears, but also black bears, chipmunks, ground squirrels, mice, ravens, woodpeckers, gray jays, Stellar jays, chickadees, nuthatches, and finches.
A healthy whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) tree.
Credit USDA photograph.
The symbiotic relationship that exists between the whitebark pine and the Clark’s nutcracker illustrates the importance of maintaining viable whitebark pine stands. The seed from the cones of the whitebark pine provide the high-energy food source that the Clark’s nutcracker depends on to maintain healthy and viable numbers within its population. In turn, research has shown that the Clark’s nutcracker is the primary reason behind the majority of new whitebark pine seedling establishment. This process takes place due to seed dispersal from the caching habits of the Clark’s nutcracker. This bird will dislodge the heavy seeds from the cone, storing up to 80 seeds in its sublingual pouch beneath its tongue, and then carry the seeds to another area and cache them. One to fifteen seeds are cached approximately one inch deep in the soil, mostly in open areas that have been recently burned. Using its keen intelligence and memory, the Clark’s nutcracker uses triangulation to remember where its multitude of caches are located for future retrieval. Any unused seed may germinate and grow into a new whitebark tree. (Lanner, 1996; Tomback, et al, 2001)
Future plans include helping the Swan Lake Ranger District plan restoration burns in the Mission Mountains Wilderness and monitoring the response of both Clark’s Nutcrackers and Whitebark Pine.
Student Dave Whisenand with his sketch of a Clark’s nutcracker during the 2007 Northwest Connection Landscape & Livelihood field semester.
Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation
PO Box 16775
Missoula, MT 59808
Biannual newsletter, Nutcracker Notes
www.whitebarkfound.org
Whitebark Pine Communities by Tomback, Arno, and Keane
Made for Each Other: A Symbiosis of Birds and Pines by Lanner
Nutcracker Notes, Bi-annual newsletter by Whitebark Pine Ecosystem Foundation
How to Recognize Blister Rust Infection on Whitebark Pine. USDA. Intermountain Research Station. Research Note INT-406.
Protecting Whitebark Pine from Bark Beetles: Verbenone Test in Central Idaho by Perkins. Nutcracker Notes. Spring/Summer. 2005.
Indian Trails and Grizzly Tales,“What Has Happened to the Montana Grizzly?” by Bud Cheff, Sr.
Visit www.adobe.com for download info.
|