Conservation assessment for groundcedar and stiff clubmoss in the Black Hills National Forest South Dakota and Wyoming

Abstract

Stiff clubmoss (Lycopodium annotinum L.) and groundcedar (Lycopodium complanatum L.; synonym = Diphasiastrum complanatum [L.] Holub.) (Lycopodiaceae) are circumboreal clubmoss species that are widely distributed in North American boreal habitats. In the northern Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming, groundcedar and stiff clubmoss occur in disjunct, extremely isolated populations in remnant boreal white spruce and mixed conifer-hardwood forests. To date, only two populations of each species have been located on Black Hills National Forest lands1: both species occur in a dense colony in the Upper Sand Creek Botanical Area, Crook County, Wyoming; and smaller, separate populations of each species occur in Lawrence County, South Dakota. The current status of additional occurrences of groundcedar and stiff clubmoss on private lands is not known. Conservation of existing populations is crucial to the persistence of both species in Black Hills National Forest. Although the habitat requirements of these rare species are poorly understood, potentially detrimental management activities are basically precluded on known sites on National Forest lands. The persistence of both species in the Black Hills is at risk due to both the small number and size of their populations, which makes them vulnerable to random stochastic events and invasion by noxious weeds and other invasive plants.

Citation

Hornbeck, J.Hope; Reyher, Deanna J.; Sieg, Carolyn Hull; Crook, Reed W. 2002. Conservation assessment for groundcedar and stiff clubmoss in the Black Hills National Forest South Dakota and Wyoming. Custer, SD: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Black Hills National Forest. 35 p