MONTANA STATE This "cover" page added by the Internet Archive for formatting purposes ^r SA^ ULA/ DEMOGRAPHIC MONITORING OF PENSTEMON LEMHIENSIS DILLON RESOURCE AREA BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT 1992 Progress Report Prepared by: Bonn!* L. Haidal Montana Natural Haritaga Prograa 151S Bast Sixth Avanua Halana, Montana 59620 and J. Staphan Shally Montana Natural Harltaga Progr D. 8. Porast Sarvica P.O. Box 7669 Missoula, MT 59807 and STATF DOCUMENTS COLLECTION Praparad for: Buraau of Land Manageaant Dillon Rasourca Area 730 North Montana Dillon, MT 59725-1048 Agraaaant No. B950-A1-0006 Task No. 8 JUL ri993 MONTANA STATE LIBRARY 1515 E. 6th AVE. HELENA, MONTANA 59620 Fabruary 1993 n 01993 Montana Natural Haritaga Program This raport is to ba citad as follows: Haidal, B. L. and J. 8. Shally. 1993. Daaograpbio Bonitoring of Panstamon laahiansis in tha Dillon Rasourca Araa, Montana; 1992 Prograss Raport. Montana Natural Haritaga Program. Halana, NT. 18 pp. TABLB OF CONTEMTS I . INTRODUCTION 1 II . STUDY SITES 2 III . MONITORING METHODS 2 IV . RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 4 V. LITERATURE CITED 7 FIGURE 1 . POPULATION STRUCTURE AT BADGER PASS 8 FIGURE 2 . POPULATION STRUCTURE AT HORSE PRAIRIE 9 TABLE 1. POPULATION DATA FOR TRANSECTS AND MARKED PLANTS 10 APPENDIX A. DEMOGRAPHIC MONITORING DATA 11 APPENDIX B. MARKED PLANT AND TRANSECT LOCATIONS 16 Z. IMTRODDCTIOM Penstemon lenhiensis (Keck) Keck and Cronquist (Lenhl beardtongue) is a showy perennial in the Figwort Paaily (Scrophulariaceae) . It is a regional endeaic in three counties of southwestern Montana (Beaverhead, Ravalli and silver Bow) and one county of eastern Idaho. It is a Category 2 species candidate for listing as a threatened or endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USDI 1990). It is currently ranked as G3/S2 (globally vulnerable, state inperiled) by the Montana Natural Heritage Prograa (Lesica and Shelly 1991) , considered sensitive by Region 1 of the U.S. Forest Service (USDA 1988) and considered sensitive in the draft list by the Bureau of Land Management State Office (USDI 1993). Penstemon lenhiensis occupies grassland habitat of variable elevation, which is subject to alteration by grazing, mining activity and weed control by herbicide spraying (Schassberger 1990, Shelly 1990) . Its populations include a relatively few number of large populations in undisturbed habitat, and relatively many small populations in habitats of manmade disturbance such as roadsides. We suspect that the large populations in natural settings are more stable than the small populations through time, and that the latter are more prone to local extirpation. Population counts have been made at large population sites since 1986, including the BLM Badger Pass exclosure site, documenting marked increases and decreases in population size (Achuff and Shelly 1991) . There is a need to monitor the populations to differentiate natural fluctuations from overall trend and identify critical life history stages so that an assessment of long term viability can be made. The purpose of this project is to study Penstemon lemhiensis life history; monitoring growth, fecundity, recruitment, and mortality to determine overall trend in two populations of Penstemon lehiniensis at two sites representing relatively natural and unnatural settings. This information is needed to interpret data on the location and size of Penstemon lemhiensis populations, it augments monitoring studies in natural settings elsewhere in both states, and it provides a sensitive species management baseline for BLM. Penstemon lemhiensis is being monitored on Beaverhead National Forest in Montana, and BLM land in both Montana and Idaho. Populations on the Beaverhead National Forest have been monitored since 1989 (Achuff and Shelly 1991, Shelly 1990, 1993) and are all located within ten miles of the Badger Pass BLM site. In 1990, plants within a recently-constructed BLM monitoring exclosure near Badger Pass Microwave Tower were marked and described, encompassing most or all of a population in an intact setting. In 1991, three demographic monitoring belt transects were established in the BLM exclosure by the method described in Lesica (1987), and an additional belt transect was established near Horse Prairie, in a roadside right-of-way setting also on BLM land. Data from the Badger Pass exclosure belt transects are tallied as a single data set, making up the same approximate sample size as the single Horse Prairie belt transect though covering a larger sample area. This report summarizes results from the third year of revisiting marked plants in the Badger Pass exclosure, and the second year of reading the transects in both the exclosure and the Horse Prairie area. The transect readings provide important data not available in the marked plant study. Detailed transect readings are needed for a minimum of four years to make trend assessments. II. STUDY SITES The study sites and sampling locations are described in detail in previous monitoring establishment and progress reports (Achuff 1990, 1991) . Notes and revisions on site transect and permanently-marked plant layouts are incorporated on a corrected table in Appendix B. This is to replace all previous site tables. It was learned that road maintenance operations along FS Road 7340.1 had scraped out the right-of-way segment where the Horse Prairie transect is located in the late 1980s (Svoboda pers. comm. ) . Study site experimental considerations are treated in the discussion section. III. MONITORING METHODS Methods for recording data from marked plants and reading the transects are provided in Achuff (1991). In order to examine differences in population structure, Penstemon lemhiensis individuals were placed into one of three size categories: 1 Seedling category = "S". It is represented by small rosettes with cotyledons evident or rosette diameter <15 mm. This was initially though to approximate the juvenile life history stage. However, several of the plants in the "S" class were reappearing plants, and do not correspond with a first year age class. In 1992, very small rosette buds that were part of largest plants were also noted for the first time and placed in the "S" class. 2 Nonf lowering category - "R". it is represented by one or more rosettes, noting the number of rosettes. The number of rosettes generally reflects vigor. The rosette category does not represent an age class because plants were found to change back and forth between nonf lowering and flowering categories. 3 Flowering category, having inf loresences and with or without fruits, in addition to rosettes. Reproductive parameters tallied for each plant reflect reproductive outlay. I > Inflorescences, i.e., total flowering stems. The low incidence of bolting was noted separately. The low incidence of leaf mining activity, more often on cauline leaves rather than rosette leaves, was noted. B ■ Browsed inf loresences, a subset of infloresence tally. F - Fruits which are fertile. Note: There was obvious moisture condensaton noted inside a small number of fruit capsules, appearing to have fungal decay, but these were included in with the Fruit total. P - Predated fruits, a subset of fruits tally. A - Separate tally of aborted fruits having no fruit formation apparent In addition, plants which were dead were noted by "D**. Plants which could not be relocated in subsequent years despite careful search were noted as **-** and presumed dead. Few plants in the "S" class have been found to date, and the "S" class plants are merged in with the numbers of "R** plants in the tally of plant in vegetative (nonfruiting) vs. reproductive condition. The tally of individuals in these categories is taken to represent all individuals within a given area because there is no evidence of species dormancy over a growing season. The number of viable seeds produced by a plant is the best indication of its reproductive outlay, but is impractical to monitor compared to counting fruits. To get an estimate of the relation between seed numbers and fruit numbers, tallies of viable seeds per fruit capsule were made in previous years. Capsules were collected in the past and examined for the number of viable-appearing seeds (Achuff and Shelly 1991, Shelly 1990), but there were so few capsules in 1992 that none were collected this year. Seed viability studies have not been conducted. Information on the vigor and reproductive outlay of each plant was collected in tabulating rosette, infloresence and fruit information. A plant with five rosettes, two inflorescences, 12 fruits, and 25 aborted flowers was recorded as RJI2F12A25. Tabulations and demography calculations are reported on an annual basis, and analyses will be run at the culmination of intensive monitoring to characterize rates of change and overall trends. Measurement calculations are summarized below: Recruitment = % of new plants observed in year t to the number surviving from year t-1 to year t Mortality = % of plants dying between year ^-1 and i to the number surviving in the same period Fecundity = number of fertile fruits per plant (not including aborted) Average fruit production = number of fruits / number of fruiting plants Browsing loss = 100 - (actual fruit production / potential fruit product: the number of fruiting plants X mean number of fruits per unbrowsed plant) Abortion loss - 100 - (actual fruit production / potential fruit production: the number of maturing fruits on unbrowsed plants / number of maturing + aborted fruits on unbrowsed plants) IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Recruitment, mortality, fecundity, browse loss and abortion loss values are presented below for the two sample sites: PEW8TEM0N LEMHIEWSIS MONITORING - Life Historv Highlights* BADGER PASS HORSE PRAIRIE 1 1991 1992 1991 1992 1 Recruitment (%) - 20 — 39 Mortality (%) - 6 - 44 Browse Loss (%) 16 69 39 ** Abortion Loss (%) 72 — jt — r-K 82 28 ■ 1 ' ** All flowering plants at Horse Prairie were browsed in 1992, and all of the flowers which were produced had aborted Penstemon lemhiensis population structure In the two belt transects for 1991 and 1992 is depicted in Figures 1 and 2, based on the field data recorded in Appendix 1. These indicate that the population size and structure is relatively unchanging over the two-year nonitoring period. There are saall declines in flowering at both sites. Data on marked plants in the Badger Pass exclosure for 1990, 1991, and 1992 are presented in Appendix 1. The aarked plant study is redundant with the belt transect study to sons degree; 59% (N-of the plants in the belt transects are in the Barked plant study. It is reconmended that this aarked plant nonitoring data set be maintained because it includes one additional year of data, provides an opportunity to compare methods, and involves relatively little additional time. The Badger Pass sample area has a greater component of flowering plants by a factor of four compared to Horse Prairie sample area, while it has only 25% as high a density as plants in the Horse Prairie area. The Horse Prairie transect lies entirely within a dry narrow right-of-way ditch scraped of all topsoil, apart from adjoining native comnunity cover. It is hypothesized that the Horse Prairie flowering plants are survivors from the 1980s right-of-way scraping, and that all nonflowering plants represent more recent recruitment. This may reflect the disturbance origin of population establishment, with higher density and recruitment on the bare roadside surface. The Horse Prairie transect is subject to the road maintenance activities of the U.S. Forest Service along FS Road 7340.1. Dialogue has been initiated with U.S. Forest Service on avoiding the monitoring site during at least the duration of the project. The value of the Horse Prairie transect may be enhanced by comparing subpopulation structure on the right-of-way and the adjoining intact upland. Expansion of the study design to include the adjoining upland will be considered in 1993. The presence of species such as Penstemon lemhiensis in a road ditch does not make the species "weedy" or "adventive" just because it does not compete well with other plants or depends on some natural disturbance regime simulated by man-made disturbance. Its habitat is locally distinguished by low vegetation density (Ramstetter 1983). Neither does it make the ditch site a conservation priority. The small part of the population on intact uplands on its own represents a "D-ranked" element occurrence, and its extension into an unnatural setting by definition ranks no higher than "D-rank". Nevertheless the Horse Prairie site is being tracked as it may indirectly fit into species conservation by comparison. Preliminary review of the data indicates that recruitment exceeds mortality in the Badger Pass site, signifying a stable or expanding short-term trend. The relatively high recruitment rates at the Horse Prairie site are more than exceeded by the higher mortality rates. The Badger Pass monitoring site lies completely within an exclosure, and may help in formulating hypotheses about the impact of grazing and browsing, but it was not set up as a controlled management response study. The exclosure restricts access by livestock, but not to wildlife. There are no clear patterns of difference between the browse levels between the Badger Pass exclosure site and the Horse Prairie site. The heaviest levels of browsing on Penstemon lerohiensis to date took place within the exclosure in 1992. Related monitoring projects for Penstemon lemhiensis are underway on the Beaverhead National Forest and public lands in Idaho. It is recommended that monitoring data between studies be compiled at the culmination of demographic monitoring, and an updated statewide or rangewide status report be prepared. It has been suggested in earlier studies and reports that Penstemon lemhiensis population numbers may be limited by availability of bare ground surface for recruitment (Ramstetter 1983, Shelly 1987, Schassberger 1990, Shelly 1990), and that oscillations in population numbers may make the many small-sized populations of Penstemon lemhiensis particularly vulnerable to extinction (Shelly 1990) . Therefore it is recommended that site groundcover data and nearby meteorological data be collected for all Penstemon lemhiensis monitoring sites. Monitoring of Penstemon lemhiensis on BLM lands will be pursued accordingly in 1993. In summary, the present data provide baseline for extended monitoring. They are not in and of themselves sufficient to draw species biology conclusions, but by observing the individual plants and the changes in population structure over several years they will provide a valid basis for assessing the demographic characteristics and viability of Penstemon lemhiensis at the two monitoring sites. V. LITBRATURB CITBD Achuff, P. L. 1992. Deaographic Bonitoring of Penstemon leahiensis in the Dillon Resource Area, Montana; 1991 Progress Report. Montana Natural Heritage Prograa, Helena, MT. Achuff, P.L. and J.S. Shelly. 1991. Deaographic monitoring of Penstemon leahiensis. Beaverhead National Forest; 1990 progress report. Montana Natural Heritage Prograa, Helena. 34 pp. Lesica, P. 1987. A technique for aonitoring nonrhizoaatous, perennial plant species in peraanent belt transects. Natural Areas Journal 7(2):65-68. Massey, J.R. and P.D. Whitson. 1980. Species biology, the key to plant preservation. Rhodora 82: 97-103. Raastetter, J. 1983. An ecolgoical study of the regional endemic Penstaaon leahiensis (Keck) Keck 4 Cronq. (Scrophulariaceae) . M.A. Thesis. University of Montana, Missoula, MT. 116 pp. Schassberger, L. 1990. Report on the conservation status of Penstemon leahiensis. a candidate threatened species, Montana. Montana Natural Heritage Prograa, Helena, MT. Shelly, J. S. 1987. Status review of Pensteaon leahiensis. Beaverhead and Bitterroot National Forests, Montana. Montana Natural Heritage Prograa, Helena, MT. Shelly, J.S. 1990. Status review and establishaent of deaographic monitoring studies: Pensteaon leahiensis. Montana Natural Heritage Program report to Beaverhead and Bitterroot national forests, Montana. 61 pp. Shelly, J.S. 1993. Demographic monitoring of Pensteaon lemhiensis on Beaverhead National Forest; 1992 Progress Report. In progress. U.S. Department of Agriculture - Forest Service. 1988. Sensitive Plant Field Guide for Montana. U.S. Department of the Interior - Fish and Wildlife Service. 1990. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; review of taxa for listing as endangered and threatened species; notice of review. Federal Register 50 CFR Part 17: 6184-6229. U.S. Department of Interior - Bureau of Land Management. 1993. Draft Special Status Plant Policy and List. Billings, MT. 8 PENSTEMON LEMHIENSIS Badger Pass Belt Transect 1991 1992 YEAR Nonfruiting Fruiting PENSTEMON LEMHIENSIS Horse Prairie Belt Transect \^^\ lyyi^ YEAR Nonfruiting Fruiting 10 Table 1. Population data for Penstemon lemhiensis in long-term monitoring, Dillon Resource Area of Butte District, BLM, 1990-1992 BADGER PASS RPl+2+3 BADGER PASS HORSE PRAIRIE Transect 1+2+3 Transect 1 (area= 20m ) (area=5m ) 1990 1991 1992 1991 1992 1991 1992 Total # of plants 34 39* 39 31** 34 39 37 1 # Fruiting plants 18 17 17 16** 11 4 3 1 % Fruiting 53 44 44 52 32 10 8 Plant density/m - — - 1.6 1.7 7.8 7.4 / Viable fruits 190 230 189 134 17 363 0 / Aborted fruits 401 723 294 353 75 144 6 % Aborted fruit loss 68 76 61 72 82 28 ?*** % Browse loss 19 46 21 16 69 39 ?*** % Mature fruits 32 24 39 27 18 16 0 / Stems/fr plant 1.3 1.7 1.8 1.5 1.7 3.0 4.0 Fecundity (fr/pl) 13 25 16 10 5 150 ?*** Mortality / **** - 1 1 — 2 ~ 14 Mortality - 3 3 - 6 - 44 Recruitment / - - - — 6 — 12 Recruitment - - — — 20 — 39 Recruitment /morta lity is - - 3 - 0.85 * Seven individuals were added to the marked plant sample set in 1991. ** A plant mapped as two individuals in 1991 was remapped as one individual in 1992; the 1991 numiber was decreased accordingly. *** All fruiting plants at Horse Praire were browsed in 1992; only aborted fruits were produced. **** Plant /8 among the permanently marked plants was recorded as dead in 1991 and alive in 1992; it was excluded from mortality figures. This is the only reported incidence of dormancy, and may reflect a misinterpretation or a new plant establishing in the same place as the old one. 11 APPENDIX 1! DBNOORAPHIC NOMITORIMO DATA These data show the perforaance of Individual Pensteaon leahiensis plants in peraanent aonitoring plots in 1991 and, for sone plants, in 1990. The following codes are used: A - aborted flowers (no fruit foraation apparent) B ■■ browsed flowering stea D ■ dead F - fruits I " inflorescences (flowering steas) P ■ predated R - rosettes (basal tufts of leaves on aature plants) S - seedling (cotyledons evident or rosette <15 aa in diaaeter) The codes fora a foraula describing the state of the plant. For example, a plant with five rosettes, two inflorescences, 12 fruits, and 25 aborted flowers was recorded as R)I]F,}A25. BADGER PASS MICROWAVE BZCL08DRE MARKED PZJJITS - RPl ElADlk 1990 1211 1SS2. 1 R4 D D 2 Rl Rl Rl 3 R4I1F14A17 R3I1F6A6 R2I1F5A6 4 R3 R4 R3 5 R12I1F24A10 R11I3F13A16P1 R17I2F19A9 6 R2 RlBl R2 BADGER PASS MICROWAVE EZCLOSURE MARKED PLANTS - RP2 Plant 1990 XSaJL 1992 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 R4I1F15A19 R5I3F31A75 R8 Rl D Rl R6I4F4A109+ R7 R2 R8 R7I2F12A64 R4I3F30A36B1 R6 R4 R3S1 R5 R4I1F5A34 R4I1F18A23 R2I1F7A17 R4 R3 Rl R3 Rl 10 14A — Rl R2 BADGER PASS MICROWAVE EXCLOSURE MARKED PLANTS - RP2 (cont.) Plant 15 16 17 18 19* 22 23 24 26 27 29 30 31 32 1990 R4B1F1 R5 R2I1F13A19 R4I1F12A21 R4B1 R8I1F6A10B1 R5I1F1A3B1 R7I2F23A31B1 Rl R6 Rl R5 R3I1F11A24 1?91 R3I3F23A84 R4 R5I1F11A41 R13I4F48A151 R15 R8I2F1A4B2 R5I3F17A45 R12I1F2A3B1 R3 R8I1B1 R4I1F6A27 R7I1F15A38 R3I2F8A61 R3 1992 R5I1F12A14 R5I3F14A22B2P7 R4I3F7A18B1 R18I5F61A76 D R5I3B3 R3 R7 Rl R7 R4 R7S1 R3I2F5A16 R7I2F6A16 * Gaps in the sequence of plant numbers represent plants tagged in 1990 for which no signs of the plants or metal markers could be found in 1991. BADGER PASS MICROWAVE EXCLOSURE MARKED PLANTS - RP3 Plant 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 1990 1991 1992 R4 Rl RlIlAl R3B1 Rl R4 R14I2F36A35 R4I2B2 R4I1F2A8B1 R3I1F8A27 R3 R2 R3I1F8A32 R3 R3 R2I1F8A27 R3 R2 R2 Rl Rl — R2I1F4A17 R1I1F2A13 -- R1I1F6A16 R2 -- R4I1F8A14 R4I1B1 ~ R3 R3I3F8A36 ~ R13I1F14A27 R19I1B1 BADGER PASS MICROWAVE TRANSECT 1 The number in parentheses is the tag number for numbered plants that occur within a transect. Plot Plant 1 1991 1992 13 BADGER PAfiS NICROWAYB TKAMSBCT 1 (OOBt.) 21s^ £iAn£ 1221 1222 it2 R3 R2 2 a b c (37) (38) R2 R3 R3 3-8 - 9 a b c (35) (34) (33) R4I2B2 Rl Rl 10 - 11 a b c (36) (39) (40) R3 Rl R2I1P4A17 R4I1P2A8B1 Rl RlIlAl R2 Rl R1I1P2A13 BADGER PASS NICROVAVB TRAMSBCT 2 The number in parentheses is the tag number for numbered plants that occur within a transect. Plot Plant 1 a 1221 R3I3P14A35 1992 R2S4I1P0A4B1 2-3 4 a b c d a b c d R4I3P14A44 R4I1P4A12 R2 R5I2P15A42 Rl R1I1F5A23 Rl R5I1F8A23 R11I2P0B2 (part of above) R6I4F4A13B2 CI R3 R3 R2I1F1B1 6-8 9 a (41) b (42) C (43) d e R1I1F6A16 R4I1F8A14 R3 R2 R4I1B1 R3I3F8A36 R4 R4 10 a (44) R13I1F14A27 R19I1B1 14 BADGER PA88 MICROWAVE TRANSECT 3 The number in parentheses is the tag number for numbered plants that occur within a transect. Plot EJ .ant 1991 1992 1 - - 2 a (30) R7I1F15A38 R7S1 b (29) R4I1F6A27 R4 3 a Rl Rl b (24) R12I1F2A3B1 R7 c (27) R8I1B1 R7 d (23) R5I3F17A45 R3 e (22) R8I2F1A4B2 R5I3B3 f - Rl 9 - Rl h - Rl 4 a Rl D b (26) R3 Rl c Rl R2 HORSE PRAIRIE MONITORING TRANSECT 1992 R2 Rl Rl R2S1 R3 RlSl R2S1 Rl R4 R2 R3 R3 Plot Plant 1991 1 a R2 b Rl c Rl d R2 e R2 f R2 g R2 h Rl i R2 j Rl k Rl 1 - ■ - n - o - P - q — 15 HORSE PRAIRIB NONITORIMO TRAMSBCT (cont.) 2 a b c d f 9 h i J k a b c d • f g h i J k 1 a n o P q r s t a b c Rl Rl R2 R3 R14 R16I4F0B4 Rl Rl Rl RlSl R2 Rl R2 — R3 81 S — - Rl - Rl R8I2B2 R2 Rl - R12I5F63A55B2 D R10I4P208A65P1 D R2 - Rl R3 Rl R1I1A4B1 R3 R2 R2 - R5 - Rl RS Rl Rl Rl R4 Rl R2 R3 RS R2 R3 • Rl - Rl — R3 - R4 R11I1F92A24 R14I7A2B7 Rl R2 S — 16 MARKED PLANT AND TRANSECT LOCATIONS Exclosure at Badgar Pass alcrowava sita. Group 1. (RPl) : RPl (Reference Point 1) is the fence post in the northernmost corner of the exclosure (Fig. 1) . The plants are located as follows: Heading Distance From To 231° 0. 50 m RPl plant 1 126° 3.75 m plant 1 plant 2 110° 3.60 m plant 2 plant 3 140° 1.75 m plant 3 plant 4 222° 4.95 m plant 4 plant 5 112° 4.30 in plant 5 plant 6 Group 2 (RP2)x RP2 (Reference Point 2) is a corner post at a jog in the fence in the central northwest part of the exclosure (Fig. 1) . An individual plant, #14A, was insartad into tha aaquanca in 1991, locatad <10 en from #14, at ca. 45 dagraas. Gaps in tha tag numbar aaquanca rapraaant plants which could not ba ralocatad in 1991 and which ara omittad from considaration in 1991. The plants are located as follows: Headina I2i£^AI ice rr9D RP2 Ifi 112° 4.75 m plant 7 157° 23.15 n plant 7 plant 8 261° 13.10 m plant 8 plant 9 260° 10.40 B plant 9 plant 10 301° 0.50 m plant 10 plant 11 195° 0.40 m plant 11 plant 12 318° 0.40 m plant 12 plant 13 83° 0.10 n plant 13 plant 14 27° 0.50 m plant 14 plant 15 222° 1.20 m plant 15 plant 16 90° 0.25 n plant 16 plant 17 132° 1.15 n plant 17 plant 18 132° 0.50 m plant 18 plant 19 253° 7.35 m plant 19 plant 22 nd 0.30 m plant 22 plant 23 nd 0.15 n plant 23 plant 24 nd 0.40 m plant 24 plant 2 6 nd 0.40 m plant 26 plant 27 nd 0.70 m plant 27 plant 29 148° 0.82 m plant 29 plant 30 165° 17.70 m plant 8 plant 31 70° 9.00 m plant 31 plant 32 17 Group 3 (RP3)z RP3 (Reference Point 3) is the fence post in the corner of the exclosure closest to the microwave tower (Fig. 1) . The plants are located as follows: HMdinq Distance rroi Is 356* 12.40 ■ RP3 plant 33 55* 0.15 ■ plant 33 plant 34 157' 0.40 ■ plant 34 plant 35 174* 7.20 ■ plant 35 plant 36 228' 0.60 ■ plant 36 plant 37 nd 0.20 ■ plant 37 plant 38 nd 0.45 ■ plant 38 plant 39 40* O.CS ■ plant 39 plant 40 190* 1.25 ■ rebar plant 41 190* 1.35 ■ rebar plant 42 190* 1.45 ■ rebar plant 4 3 180* 1.00 ■ plant 43 plant 44 B. BADGER PAB8 MICROVAVB BZCL08URB NOMITORIMO TRAM8BCT8 1. Traaseot li The starting pin for transect 1 is located 3.58 ■ from RP3 on an aziauth of 10*. The transect runs for 10 ■ at 10* with the 1 n' plots lying along the west side of the baseline. An additional 1 ■' plot lies on the east side of the baseline between neters 1 and 2. 2. Transect 2t The starting pin for transect 2 is 13.8 n at 160* from the omnidata pod cover (Fig. 1) and is at the south end of the transect. The transect runs at 340* for 5 m. The 1 m' plots are along the east side of the baseline. Individual plant /44 falls outside of plot #10 in the continuous belt along the transect. It lies perpendicular to the transect rather than parallel to it. The area around it is tentatively renamed as plot #10. 3. Transect 3: The starting pin for transect 3 is 2.8 m north of RP4, a painted fence post along the southwestern perimeter fence (Fig. 1) and is at the south end of the transect. The transect runs for 5 m at 350* along the edge of the trees parallel to the fence and plots 1-5 are on the east side of the line, with the tape as the bottom edge of the square. 18 C. HORSE PRAIRIE NONITORIMO TRANSECT The Horse Prairie transect is located at the site of the Montana Natural Heritage Program element occurrence 027 for Penstemon lemhiensis. The site is about 3$ mile southeast of the Horse Prairie Guard Station. The transect is located on the north side of the road about halfway between the third water bar and the cattle guard while going up the hill (not between the second and third water bars) . The transect runs parallel to the road in a generally westerly direction and is 5 m long. The 1 m^ plots are north (upslope) of the base line. The transect is read froa west to east.