Surveying for Kincaid's Lupine

Native prairie habitats across Willamette Valley have been decimated and the patches of remaining habitats are highly fragmented. This degradation of prairie landscapes have been primarily lost as a result of spreading agriculture, urbanization, and other development. The US Fish and Wildlife Services has been working with local land owners to promote land management for two rare, endemic Willamette Valley prairie species: Kincaid's Lupine (Lupinus sulphureus ssp. kincaidii) and Fender's blue butterfly (lcaricia icarioides fenderi). One major issue is a lack of information on the life history and current populations of both species. The US Fish and Wildlife is working to implement standardized survey methods to help fill in these gaps and also to ensure that the data collected is easily comparable. I was lucky enough to be involved this weekend in a monitoring and demographic study outside of Eugene, OR. Ultimately, the data collected will be a part of evaluating new standardized survey methods and the effectiveness of the current protocols for studying these two federally listed Willamette Valley prairie species.