A floristic and vegetation survey of Lucile Caves Area of Critical Environmental Concern, Coeur D'Alene District, BLM

50 Pages·1991·7 MB·English

by  Moseley, Robert K

BLMLIBRARY
88027003
IDAHO BLM
TECHNICAL BULLETIN
A Floristic and Vegetation Survey
ofLucile Caves
Area ofCritical Environmental Concern,
Coeur d'Alene District, BLM
by
RobertK.Moseley
andSusanBernatas
TECHNICALBULLETIN91-3
NOVEMBER1991
BUREAUOFLANDMANAGEMENT
IDAHOSTATEOFFICE
U 3380AmericanaTerrace
, 5-2 Boise,Idaho83706
ao.3i
1
Q^t-
BLMLIBRARY^., **
I^IISraICENTER to*,*
p 80X25047
DENVER,CO 80225-0047
AFLORISTICANDVEGETATIONSURVEYOF
LUCILECAVESAREAOFCRITICALENVIRONMENTALCONCERN,
COEURD'ALENEDISTRICT,BLM
by
RobertK.MoseleyandSusanBernatas
ConservationDataCenter
NongameandEndangeredWildlifeProgram
November1991
IdahoDepartmentofFishandGame
600SouthWalnut,P.O.Box25
Boise,Idaho83707
JerryM.Conley,Director
CooperativeChallengeCost-shareProject:
Coeurd'AleneDistrictBLM
IdahoDepartmentofFishandGame
PurchaseOrderNo.D060P10055
ABSTRACT
AninventoryofthebotanicalandecologicalfeaturesofLucileCavesAreaofCritical
Environmental Concern(ACEC)wasundertakenduringMay-July, 1991,bytheIdaho
DepartmentofFishandGame'sConservationDataCenter1aspartofacooperativeproject
aCwriaetvaheswtahwesaCskoneeouswtranbdl'tiAoslhecenodnetaaDsiisnatrpiRocetps,uelBaaLrtciMoh,nsNtahtorfuorutaghlhreAetrhereaarCe(hRapNlllaAen)tn/sg:AeCEECpoCisptab-cysthitsahregeiBgPLarnMotgeirana,m1.L9o8m9Lau.ctiilTuehme
roliinsii,andanexperimentalplantingofMirabilismacfarlanei. Weconfirmedthe
occurrenceofthesespeciesintheACECanddiscoveredtwopopulationsofanadditional
trahreeAsCpeEcCiesis,pErroivgiedreodn.enWgeeldmeasncnriiibevaer.acdhavirsairie.spAecliisets,ofavnadsciunlcalrudpelaantdisspceucsiseisonococfurthreiinrgin
ddaiinssdttrrmiibbauupttpiiooennd,.aanbdWuencodnpasrneocrvevidaaetnidaondceossntcasrteiurpsvt.aitoiWnoenofsaetlaastocuhsm.ackoPmelmasunentviectroyam,lmruanesicwtoeimlemlseanwsdeaartediioasnlcssuoscsioinnovcneenrotnfoirtnihgeedir
theRNAdesignation,monitoring,referenceareavalue,andcontrolofexoticweeds.
'FormerlytheIdahoNaturalHeritageProgram
TABLEOFCONTENTS
ABSTRACT
;
TABLEOFCONTENTS
jj
LISTOFAPPENDICES
ii,
INTRODUCTION
1
PHYSICALENVIRONMENT
-,
Climate
^
Geology 2
FLORA
6
Epipactisgigantea g
Erigeronengelmanniivar.davisii ..11
Lomatiumrollinsii 13
Mirabilismacfarlanei 20
VEGETATION
; 23
CanyonGrasslands 25
Riparian 28
Shrublands 29
ConiferousForest 31
RECOMMENDATIONS 33
REFERENCES
36
LISTOFAPPENDICES
Appendix 1 ListofvascularplantspeciesoccurringinLucileCavesACEC.
Appendix2 VegetationmapofLucileCavesACEC.
in
INTRODUCTION
TheLucileCavesareawasdesignatedaResearchNaturalArea/AreaofCritical
Environmental Concern(RNA/ACEC) in 1989bytheCoeurd'AleneDistrict,BLM(USDI
uaBpluolrnaegnaduwihotafbhiLtaaants,dprhiMonagwneaavngeder,mcerwneitetkh1sa9y8sd9it)ve.emrsTaehsesaoshcsiiegahmtlbeildgahwtgieotfhoftiht.pilsaMn4ot3ss8taanocdfretphlReanNatArceaiosmomafuuntnihiteqiuReesN.Acavise
cEcoonldougcitsetsdfarobomtatnhiecaIldaihnoveDnetporayrtomfenthteoLfucFiilsehCaanvdesGaRmNe'As/ACCoEnsCerdvuartiingonMaDayt,aJCuennetearn1d
JBuLlMy,.1991,throughtheChallengeCost-shareprogramwiththeCoeurd'AleneDistrict
PHYSICALENVIRONMENT
Climate
ThefollowingcharacterizationoftheclimateofnorthernIdahoisadaptedlargelyfrom
RossandSavage(1967).
TheclimateofnorthernIdahoisinfluencedprimarilybyPacificmaritimeair. However,
Idahois300to400milesinlandfromthePacificOcean,andtheCascadeMountains
smeapnayractoentIidnaehnotaflrocmhartahcetecroiasstti.cs.Thedistanceandmountainbarrierresultinaclimatewith
awBraeecramhueusmreiadtnhdaenmdpirlecdvleaoriulditynh.gatwSmenisotgwehfrtallyblewieisxnhpdeesacvtbeyldo.iwntiThnheleasnmdeoufmnritloadmi,ntsmh.oeisPPtaecriwifioidncidcsOalclreyea,snu,ltthewiinwnetwseitrnestrelarryseftlhaotw
ofairisinterruptedbyoutbreaksofcold,clear,continentalairfromCanada.
Duringsummermonths,thewesterlywindsweaken,andcontinentalclimaticconditions
prevail. Rainfall,cloudcover,andrelativehumidityareattheirminimuminsummer;daily
temperaturevariationis40°to50°Formore.
ClimateofLucileCavesACECisnotexpressedbyanyclimaticrecord. However,the
greocoodrdinfdoircaRtiigogninosf,cIldiamhaot,icsterveenndsm.ilessouthoftheRNAandatasimilarelevationgivesa
1FormerlytheIdahoNaturalHeritageProgram
ClimaticRecordsforRiggins,Idaho
Elevation 1801 feet; 1940-1975
(NOAArecordssummarizedbyJohnson 1978)
Temperature Precipitation
°F Inches
MeanMonthly
January 33.9 1.31
February 41.2 1.08
March 46.6 1.57
April 52.5 1.63
May 61.9 2.13
June 68.7 2.13
July 78.4 0.66
August 77.5 0.81
September 68.5 1.08
October 56.7 1.44
November 42.7 1.45
December 36.6 1.22
MeanAnnual 55.4 16.51
MeanApril-October 66.3 9.88
MeanNovember-March 40.2 6.63
Maximum(date) 115.0(8/1967) 24.00 1975)
Minimum(date) -10.0(1/1957) 10.21 :1958)
Geology
AsidefromthelayeredbasaltoftheColumbiaPlateauflowsthatoccurredduringTertiary
time,mostoftherocksinwest-centralIdahoareoceanicorislandarcassemblages.
ThesesislandswerepartofalargegroupthatformedsomewhereinthePacificabout200
millionyearsago,duringPermianandTriassictime,andjoinedtheNorthAmerican
continentduringmiddle-Cretaceoustime,about100millionyearsago. Thismeansthat
AbeCfEorCe(CMraelteayce1o9u8s7;tiAmlet,atnhdewHeysntdmcaoanst19o8f9N)o.rthAmericawassituatednearLucileCaves
Thesevolcanicislandsformedinrelativelywarmoceansandweresurrounded byextensive
reefsystems. Whentheseislandsandadjacentbasins,collectivelyknownasvolcanicarc
terrane,collidedwithNorthAmericanterrane,theywerehighlydeformedand
metamorphosed. ThevolcanicportionisknownastheSevenDevilsGroupof
metavolcanics,whilethereefsthatoccurredintheshallowbasinsformedlimestone
depositsknownastheMartinBridgeandLucileformations(GastonandBennett 1979).
FivebasicgeologicsubstratesoccurinLucileCavesACEC:
o LucileFormation-Thisisametamorphicunitoflate-Triassicage,composedlargely
ofgraycalcareousslateandphyllite(arockhavingaffinitiestobothslateandmica
schists)andhasbeencalledLucileSlate(Hamilton 1963;GastonandBennett
1979).Lucileslateformstheunderlying bedrockofthelowerslopesoftheACEC,
andisespeciallyvisibleinthebluffsabovethehighwayonthenorthern
(downstream)end.
o MartinBridgeFormation-Thissedimentaryformationiscomprisedoflimestoneand
dolomite,withsomereefdebristhathasbeenmetamorphosedintheSalmonRiver
areatorecrystallizedcalcite,limestone,andmarble(Hamilton 1963;Gastonand
Bennett1979). WithintheACEC,theMartinBridgelimestoneoccursasprominent
facesabovetheLucileslate. Thesecaneasilybeseenontheairphoto(7-2-81;
8164, 1:24,000;LN16-RN1)asaprominentgraybandrunningnorthtosouth,
parallelingtheSalmonRiver.
o ThehighslopesabovetheMartinBridgeFormationareunderlainbyametamorphic
unitknownastheFiddleCreekSchist. Thisgreenandwhiteschistispartofthe
RigginsGroup,possiblyofPermianage(GastonandBennett 1979).
o Riveralluvium-AlthoughnotmappedonHamilton(1963)orGastonandBennett
(1979),QuaternaryalluvialmaterialdepositedbytheSalmonRiveroccursonthe
lowerslopesoftheACEC. Itoccursbothontheupperbenches,asrivergravels,
andasdeepsandsbetweentheoldhighwayandtheSalmonRiver.
o Cpraelcciptiutfaate(dcaflrcoamresooulsuttiuofna,)i-nCtahlicstcuafsae,isparedceippoistiattedoffcraolmcituhmecsaprribnognactree,ekCatrCa0ve3r,sing
theACEC. Itespeciallyobviousaroundthefallsandcaveentrance. Thissubstrate
doesnotappearonthemapsofHamilton(1963)andGastonandBennett(1979).
WhittenandBrooks(1972)provideadescriptionoftheprocessofcalctufa
formation,asfollows. Thesolubilityofcalciumcarbonateinwaterisafunctionofthe
quantityofdissolvedcarbondioxide,andthusinturnisafunctionoftemperatureand
pressure-lowtemperatureandhighpressureincreasingtheamountofcarbondioxidein
solution. Ifthewatersaturatedwithcarbondioxideataparticulartemperatureand
pressureisalsosaturatedwithcalciumcarbonate,anyincreaseinthetemperatureor
decreaseinpressurewillcausecalciumcarbonatetobeprecipitatedsoastorestore
equilibriuminthesolution. Similarly,lossofwaterbyevaporationwillalsocause
dCeapvoessitliaoyninogfdthoewncatlhciicukmccalartbuofnaatdee.posBiottshaolfontghetsheepcrroeceekstshersouargehotpheeraAtCiEnCg.atLucile
Calctufaismainlyfoundinlimestoneregionsaroundspringsandresurgencesof
waterwhichhastraversedlimestonestrataandisoftenspongyorcellularin
cmhaayraectnecrl,osaesfartagLumceinltesCaofverso.cksA,ltphlaonutgsh,woreadniidmanlotreombasienrsve(With,itthtiesnsapnodngByrocoaklsctufa
1972).
Inundergroundcavernsanothertypeofcalctufaisformed,knownasstalagmiteor
dripstone. Thismaterialcoatsthefloorandwallsoflimestonecaves. Wherewater
containingcarbonateinsolutiondripsfromtheceiling,long,moreorlesscylindrical,
pendantconcretionsmaybuildup,knownasstalactites. Acorrespondingupward
projectionfromthefloorisknownasstalagmite,whichmayultimatelylinkupwith
thecorresponding stalactite(WhittenandBrooks1972). Allthesefeaturesoccurin
LucileCaves.
Althoughitissomewhatdifficulttodiscernonthesmall-scalemapsofGastonandBennett
(1979)andHamilton(1963),itappearsthatthespringoriginatesonornearamajorthrust
faultlyingonthecontactbetweentheLucileFormationandtheMartinBridgeFormation.
AaplptehaorusghtoRousssth(a1t96it9)issbtealtoeswtthhaettLhurcuisltefCaaulvtesonisLufcoirlmeesdlaitne.MaLratringeBarimdoguentlismeosftocnaelc,titufa
havebeendepositedalongthestreamcourse,fromitssourcetothebaseoftheslopenear
theoldhighway. Itappearstousthatthesemassivecalctufadepositsformedaroomon
thesteepbluffs. Dripstonedepositshavesubsequentlycoatedmostoftheroom,with
stalactitesandstalagmites. "LucileCaves"actuallyconsistsofasingle,low-ceilinged
rmoo1m96a8bouustin4g0afteaetpebyan1d0c0ofmepeats(sRossusrv1e9y69b)y.thAepClaasncvaideewGmroatptoof(aLnucOirleegCoanvessp,elmuankpipnegd
club),appearsbelow(fromRoss1969). Theentranceisbehindawaterfallhighonthe
chffabovetheoldhighway. ItcanbeseenfromtheroadandisshownontheLucile7.5'
topographicquadrangle.
4