Management plan for Twisted Oak Moss in Canada [Proposed] 2011: Appendix 2

As provided by the Government of British Columbia

[British Columbia Bryophyte Recovery Team and Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team. 2010. Management plan for twisted oak moss (Syntrichia laevipila) in British Columbia. Prepared for the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Victoria, BC. 16 pp.

Management Plan for Twisted Oak Moss
(Syntrichia laevipila) in British Columbia

Prepared by the British Columbia Bryophyte Recovery Team
and Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team

July 2010

This series presents the management plans that are prepared as advice to the province of British Columbia. Management Plans are prepared in accordance with the priorities and management actions assigned under the British Columbia Conservation Framework. The Province prepares management plans for species’ that may be at risk of becoming endangered or threatened due to sensitivity to human activities or natural events.

A management plan identifies a set of coordinated conservation activities and land use measures needed to ensure, at a minimum, that target does not become threatened or endangered. A management plan summarizes the best available science based information on biology and threats to inform the development of a management framework. Management plans set goals and objectives, and recommend approaches appropriate for species or ecosystem conservation.

Direction set in the management plan provides valuable information on threats and direction on conservation measures that may be used by individuals, communities, land users, conservationists, academics, and governments interested in species and ecosystem conservation.

To learn more about species at risk recovery planning in British Columbia, please visit the Ministry of Environment Recovery Planning webpage at:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/recoveryplans/rcvry1.htm

To learn more about the British Columbia Conservation Framework, please visit the Ministry of Environment Conservation Framework webpage at:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/conservationframework/

Management Plan for twisted oak moss (Syntrichia laevipila)
in British Columbia

Prepared by the British Columbia Bryophyte Recovery Team
and Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team

July 2010

British Columbia Bryophyte Recovery Team and Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team. 2010. Management plan for twisted oak moss (Syntrichia laevipila) in British Columbia. Prepared for the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Victoria, BC. 16 pp.

Terry McIntosh (with permission)

Additional copies can be downloaded from the B.C. Ministry of Environment Recovery Planning webpage at:
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/recoveryplans/rcvry1.htm

ISBN 978-0-7726-6324-5
Date: July 21, 2010

Acquired:
British Columbia. Ministry of Environment.
Management Plan for twisted oak moss (Syntrichia laevipila)
in British Columbia [electronic resource]

[British Columbia management plan series]

Content (excluding illustrations) may be used without permission, with appropriate credit to the source.

This management plan has been prepared by the British Columbia Bryophyte Recovery Team and the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team, as advice to the responsible jurisdictions and organizations that may be involved in managing the species.

This document identifies the management actions that are deemed necessary, based on the best available information, to prevent twisted oak moss populations in British Columbia from becoming endangered or threatened. Management actions to achieve the goals and objectives identified herein are subject to the priorities and budgetary constraints of participatory agencies and organizations. These goals, objectives, and recovery approaches may be modified in the future to accommodate new objectives and findings.

The responsible jurisdictions and all members of the recovery team have had an opportunity to review this document. However, this document does not necessarily represent the official positions of the agencies or the personal views of all individuals on the recovery team.

Success in the conservation of this species depends on the commitment and cooperation of many different constituencies that may be involved in implementing the directions set out in this management plan. The Ministry of Environment encourages all British Columbians to participate in the conservation of twisted oak moss.

• Recovery team members
• Author
• Responsible Jurisdictions
• Acknowledgements
• Executive Summary
• 1. Species Information
  • 1.1 Species Assessment Information from COSEWIC
  • 1.2 Species Assessment Information: General
  • 1.3 Description of the Species
  • 1.4 Populations and Distribution
  • 1.5 Needs of Twisted Oak Moss
    • 1.5.1 Habitat and biological needs
    • 1.5.2 Limiting factors
  • 1.6 Threats
    • 1.6.1 Threat classification
    • .6.2 Description of the threats
  • 1.7 Actions Already Completed or Underway
  • 1.8 Knowledge Gaps
• 2. management
  • 2.1 Management Goal
  • 2.2 Rationale for the Management Goal
  • 2.3 Management Objectives
  • 2.4 Recommended Management Actions
  • 2.5 Performance Measures
  • 2.6 Effects on Other Species
  • 2.7 Recommended Approach for Implementation
• 3. REFERENCES

BC Bryophyte recovery team members
Brenda Costanzo (Chair), Ecosystems Branch, Ministry of Environment, Victoria, BC
Terry McIntosh, Ph.D., Botanist, Vancouver, BC
Karen Golinski, Ph.D., Botanist, Nashville, Tennessee
Michael Ryan, Ecologist, Ministry of Forests and Range, Kamloops, BC

Former Recovery Team member
Ted Lea (retired), Ecologist, Victoria, BC

Terry McIntosh, Ph.D.

The British Columbia Ministry of Environment is responsible for producing a management plan for twisted oak moss under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk in Canada. Parks Canada Agency and Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service participated in the preparation of this management plan.

Funding was provided by the B.C. Ministry of Environment. Members of the Plants at Risk Recovery Implementation Group of the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT) reviewed this plan, and the following contributed comments: Tracy Cornforth (DND); Carrina Maslovat (Consultant); Shyanne Smith (GOERT program manager).

Twisted oak moss (Syntrichia laevipila) was designated by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as Special Concern in Canada in May 2004. It was listed on the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) Schedule 1 in 2005. In British Columbia, the twisted oak moss is ranked S2S3 (imperiled to vulnerable) by the Conservation Data Centre and ranked G3G4 (vulnerable to apparently secure) globally by NatureServe. The Conservation Framework has assigned twisted oak moss a conservation priority 2, under Goal 3: maintain the diversity of native species and ecosystems.

Its current Canadian range consists of 27 occurrences in southwestern British Columbia. The twisted oak moss is a small moss that is restricted to the bark of trees, mainly Garry oaks (Quercus garryana); these trees are found in Garry oak ecosystems, which are nationally threatened. Potential threats to the survival of twisted oak moss populations include loss of host trees, direct removal from host trees, lack of recruitment of host trees, and air pollution.

The management goal is to maintain known populations of twisted oak moss in British Columbia.

The management objectives for twisted oak moss are as follows:

1. To initiate habitat protection for existing populations by 2016.
2. To mitigate the threats of direct destruction to the moss and determine if lack of recruitment of host trees is a direct threat to all known populations by 2015.
3. To clarify the distribution of twisted oak moss in British Columbia and to update population and distribution objectives as needed by 2014.
4. To increase public awareness of the existence and conservation value of twisted oak moss by 2016.
5. To address knowledge gaps relating to demographics, effects of competition with other species, microhabitat attributes, and microclimate and habitat conditions for this species by 2016.

Date of Assessment: May 2004
Common Name (population): Twisted Oak Moss
Scientific Name: Syntrichia laevipila Brid.
COSEWIC Status: Special Concern (met criterion for Threatened, D2, but designated Special Concern because of the high potential numbers of Garry Oak hosts).
Reason for Designation: This moss is a small species that occurs from British Columbia and Washington southward to California. The Canadian populations are at the northern limits of their range in western North America, and in Canada the species has a restricted distribution where it occurs in the area of south-eastern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. The species is known from 25 sites where it is restricted to the bark of trees, in particular Garry oaks. This species is never dominant where it grows, nor is it frequent in large oak stands. Many of the known populations are in protected areas. The major threat to the species is the disappearance of mature Garry oaks, which would result in the extirpation of most populations of this species.
Canadian Occurrence: British Columbia
COSEWIC Status History: Designated Special Concern in May 2004. Assessment based on a new status report.

twisted oak moss^[1]

Legal Designation

• Identified Wildlife:^[2] No
• B.C. Wildlife Act: No
• SARA Schedule: 1 (2005)

Conservation Status^[3]

B.C. Rank: S2S3 (2007)
B.C. List: Blue
Global Rank: G3G4 (2009)

Subnational Ranks^[4]: Not assessed in CA or WA

B.C. Conservation Framework ^[5]

Goal 1: Contribute to global efforts for species and ecosystem conservation. Priority:^[6] 3
Goal 2: Prevent species and ecosystems from becoming at risk. Priority: 6 (2009)
Goal 3: Maintain the diversity of native species and ecosystems Priority: 2 (2009)

Action Groups: Compile Status Report; Send to COSEWIC; Planning; Habitat Protection; Habitat Restoration; Private Land Stewardship; Monitor Trends

¹Data Source: B.C. Conservation Data Centre (2010) unless otherwise noted

² Identified Wildlife under the Forest and Range Practices Act

³ S = Subnational; N = National; G = Global; B= Breeding; X = presumed extirpated; H = possibly extirpated; 1 = critically imperiled; 2 = imperiled; 3 = special concern, vulnerable to extirpation or extinction; 4 = apparently secure; 5 = demonstrably widespread, abundant, and secure; NA = not applicable; NR = unranked; U = unrankable

⁴ Data Source: NatureServe (2009)

⁵ Data Source: Ministry of Environment (2010)

⁶ Six-level scale: Priority 1 (highest priority) through to Priority 6 (lowest priority).

This description is based on COSEWIC (2004), Mischler (2007), and Lawton (1971). Twisted oak moss is a small moss that grows as tufts or patches of <1 cm² on the bark of trees, usually Garry oak (Quercus garryana). Its stems are usually <5 mm tall and its leaves rarely longer than 1.5 mm. The leaves are oblong and are twisted around the stem when dry, and spreading and slightly bent backwards when wet. Leaf margins are plain to sometimes weakly recurved in the middle of the leaf. In larger plants, leaf mid-ribs often extend beyond the leaf tip as smooth to toothed, clear hairpoints (Figure 1). Smaller plants are often characterized by a lack of hairpoints and the presence of small (~0.4 mm long), leaf-like gemmae (asexual reproductive structures) in the upper axils of the leaves (Figure 2). The middle and upper leaf cells of twisted oak moss are isodiametric (each side of the cell has the same dimensions) to short-rectangular and covered by papillae (small bumps). The basal leaf cells are elongate, smooth, and clear. Twisted oak moss has both male and female sex organs on the same plant, which aids in successful fertilization and subsequent production of sporophytes (structures that produce spores). The sporophytes are composed of long, cylindrical capsules (which produce the spores) on the ends of long setae (stalks).

Figure 1. Twisted oak moss plants showing hairpoints on leaves (~ x 15). Photograph by T. McIntosh

Figure 2. A patch of twisted oak moss showing plants with gemmae at tops of the stems and leaves without hairpoints (~ x 15). Photograph by W. Miles