Source: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON submitted to
THE ECOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF CRYPTOBIOTIC CRUSTS IN ALPINE AND SUBALPINE PLANT COMMUNITIES OF NORTH CASCADES & MT. RAINIER NATIONAL PARKS
Sponsoring Institution
Other Cooperating Institutions
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
STATE
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0205597
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
WNZ-1178
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jun 1, 2005
Project End Date
Nov 1, 2006
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Hinckley, T. M.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
4333 BROOKLYN AVE NE
SEATTLE,WA 98195
Performing Department
ECOSYSTEM SCIENCES
Non Technical Summary
Cryptobiotic crusts remain practically unstudied in the alpine, despite their ecological significance elsewhere and wide distribution in the Cascades and Olympic ranges. Crusts are easily disturbed and extremely slow to recover. Considering the growing number of backcountry users, it is imperative to improve alpine resource managers understanding of the ecology of these fragile organisms. To describe the ecological function of cryptobiotic crusts in alpine and subalpine plant communities.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
20524201070100%
Knowledge Area
205 - Plant Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
2420 - Noncrop plant research;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;
Goals / Objectives
Describe the composition and function of cryptobiotic crusts in two high-elevation areas of the Cascades.
Project Methods
The research will focus on the influence of cryptobiotic crusts on water and nutrient budgets of adjacent vascular plants by comparing pristine sites with areas where trampling has partially removed cryptobiotic crusts.

Progress 06/01/05 to 11/01/06

Outputs
Studies during 2006 were divided into two components: (1) synthesizing the results of environmental education (exercises completed in 2005), and (2) the use of the sampling protocols developed in 2005 to describe the character, composition, distribution and associated vascular plants across a single, large alpine - subalpine basin complex.

Impacts
In early September, Jespersen visited the cryptobiotic crust study site of Professor Warren Gold on Buckhorn Mountain just east of Olympic National Park. At this site, Jespersen tested a sampling protocol that would enable the dissection of a study site from a fairly large to a relatively small scale (i.e., the components of an individual crypobiotic crust).

Publications

  • Jespersen, R.G. 2006. Biological Soil Crusts: An Unexplored Component of the Ecology of the High Cascades. Paper Presented and Abstract Published in Science in the National Parks, Padilla Bay Interpretive Center, Mount Vernon, WA, June 23-24, 2006.


Progress 10/01/04 to 10/01/05

Outputs
Studies during 2005 were divided into four components: (1) Site reconnaissance and descriptions, (2) environmental education, (3) identification of parallel studies and sites, and (4) testing of sampling protocols. (1) Contacts with the three National Parks (North Cascades, Olympic and Mt. Rainier) were established and potential sites were identified. Jespersen and Hart completed several multi-day reconnaissance trips searching for potential field sites. Sites visited were: Sahale Arm, Boston Basin, Easy Pass/Fisher Basin, Sourdough Mt. (NCNP), Obstruction Point, Maiden Peak, Deer Park, Elk Mountain, Grand Valley, Grand Pass, Cameron Valley, Cameron Pass area (ONP), 1st-3rd Burroughs, Fremont Lookout and adjacent basins, Summerland area, Panhandle Gap, the ridge between Panhandle Gap and Banshee Peak above the Sarvant Glaciers, Paradise meadows, Spray Park, and Seattle Park (MRNP). GPS coordinates and photos were taken for most sites. Candidates site for further study include: 3rd Burroughs (MRNP), Maiden Peak/Elk Mt. (ONP), Sourdough Mt. (NCNP). (2) Between August 9 and 18, Jespersen conducted two field environmental science camps in partnership with EarthCorps. Six to eight selected students hiked from the Easy Pass trailhead over Easy Pass to campsites in Fisher Basin. Shannon Luoma, EarthCorps, Elizabeth Wheat, College of Forest Resources and former high-school science teacher, and Darcy Batura, an environmental educator with WSU extension, assisted Jespersen. Jespersen used a series of experiential and group project-based activities to engage the students over the next several days. (3) Hinckley identified a potential complementary study and its associated study sites. In the early 1990ies, Jonathan Soll, MS student University of Washington, established a number of permanent plots in two meadows along the Obstruction Point Road in Olympic National Park. These plots were established to monitor seedling establishment over a wide range of meadow substrates following a major cone crop year in subalpine fir. Soll monitored these plots for two years; all subsequent monitoring has been done twice annually by Dr. Andrea Woodward, USGS. Soll results are as follows: seed numbers ranged from 400 to 1200 per m2; germination averaged 1.81%, was greatest on a lichen substrate. Of those germinated, Successful rooting occurred in 1.53% of those germinated while of those germinated, only 0.41% survived two growing seasons. Of the almost 10,000 seeds followed, today there are 16 surviving individuals, the major of which are on the lichen substrate. Because Soil ascribed seedling mortality to both drought and lethal substrate temperatures, Hinckley measured substrate temperatures near Solls plots using an Infrared Thermometer on July 28, a warm, summer day. Temperatures ranged from 18.5oC in the shade to over 55oC on dried lichen substrates in full sun.

Impacts
In early September, Jespersen visited the cryptobiotic crust study site of Professor Warren Gold on Buckhorn Mountain just east of Olympic National Park. At this site, Jespersen tested a sampling protocol that would enable the dissection of a study site from a fairly large to a relatively small scale (i.e., the components of an individual crypobiotic crust).

Publications

  • No publications reported this period