http://hdl.handle.net/1957/28 2013-05-21T15:49:01Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/34164 Urbanizing Flora of Portland, Oregon, 1806-2008. Christy, John A.; Kimpo, Angela; Marttala, Vernon; Gaddis, Philip K.; Christy, Nancy L. This is an annotated catalog of the vascular flora of Portland and vicinity. It contains 1,553 taxa in 126 families, and compares the historical flora with changes that have occurred since 1925. Sources included additional publications, the herbarium record, and the botanical observations of the authors and contributors. The vascular flora of the Portland-Vancouver area is documented by herbarium specimens and publications dating back to 1806. Urbanization has had inevitable and predictable effects on the region's vegetation. Wetlands have declined locally by 97 percent, coniferous forest by 92 percent, prairie and savanna by 90 percent, riparian and wetland forest by 58 percent, and oak communities of any sort by 40 percent. Open water features declined 49 percent. Old literature and specimens document the floristic composition of some of these vanished habitats. Second printing with corrections and additions, December 2009. 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/27538 Vegetation of vernal pools and related ephemeral wetlands in the Gerber Block, Klamath Basin, Oregon, including searches for Orcuttia tenuis and Tuctoria greenei Björk, Curtis R. The California vernal pool-endemic grasses Orcuttia tenuis and Tuctoria greenei, both listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, were recently found in Modoc County, California, a short distance south of the Oregon border. This prompted searches in suitable habitats in adjacent portions of the Klamath Basin in Oregon, in the Gerber Block Bureau of Land Management lands and adjacent portions of the Fremont- Winema National Forest. Neither species was found in the 2010 or 2011 surveys. The 2009-2010 winter through summer was very dry, possibly causing dormancy of these species in soil seed banks that year. The 2010-2011 winter through summer was much wetter, so much so that the pools desiccated very late, perhaps furthering dormancy. Alternately, the species may truly be lacking from the Gerber Block. Twenty-six species ranked for conservation by the Oregon Biodiversity Information Center were found in the 2010 surveys, and an additional 10 species were found that should be considered for listing as conservation priorities in Oregon. A number of vascular plants and lichens were found that may represent taxa new to science. In vernal pools, 149 taxa (all but 9 of them native) were recorded. A preliminary sketch is given of character species, high-frequency species, species autecologies, and plant communities of vernal pools in the project area. Further notes describe additional ephemeral wetland types encountered in the project area. 2011-09-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/786 Native wetland, riparian, and upland plant communities and their biota in the Willamette Valley, Oregon Titus, John H.; Christy, John A.; VanderSchaaf, Dick; Kagan, James S.; Alverson, Edward R. As part of the Willamette Basin Geographic Initiative Program, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded The Nature Conservancy of Oregon to inventory, classify, and map native wetland and riparian plant communities and their threatened biota in the Willamette Valley. Between October 1994 and September 1996, we evaluated 172 wetland and riparian sites throughout the Willamette Valley. A site is a stream or river reach or wetland area that was inventoried at one to many locations. Of these sites, 21 are high-quality remnants important for future protection and restoration efforts. We identified 153 natural communities as occurring in native wetland and riparian habitats, of which 101 are new to the plant community classification of the Oregon Natural Heritage Program. Twenty-six species of rare animals and 23 species of rare plants occur in the Willamette Valley. Thirty-two species of rare plants and animals appear to be directly dependent on wetland and riparian communities in the Willamette Valley, and twenty-two species are dependent on upland communities in the Willamette Valley. Mapping of presettlement vegetation in the Willamette Valley indicates that 456,119 hectares (1,127,071 ac) of wetland and riparian habitat have been lost overall, with 12 communities impacted in particular. As for uplands, 732,432 hectares (1,809,841 ac) of habitat have been lost overall, with 7 natural communities impacted in particular. We recommend local citizen involvement, land purchases and restoration as means of protecting and restoring remnant ecosystems and their biota in the Willamette Valley. 2006-01-03T22:50:04Z