Specialized and Local Habitats

Some natural communities and landscape features are not adequately represented through Key Habitats. These communities and features often occur at the local scale and have a patchy distribution across the landscape. They may be difficult to map from satellite data and may not be represented well in available datasets. Some of these habitats provide functions and values that are highly specialized to the local environment, are limited in quantity, and host a suite of rare or endemic species. To address the conservation needs of these habitats and their associated species, “specialized and local habitats” were identified through review of geographic vegetation data, rare plant or animal occurrences, importance to Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN), and occurrences of animal concentrations. Many of these habitats are also identified in other state priorities, such as Aquatic Resources of Special Concern administered through the Oregon Department of State Lands.

• • Alpine Habitats: Meadows, Dwarf Shrublands, Alpine Tundra, and White Bark Pine

    Ecoregions

    BM, EC, KM, NBR, WC

    Comments

    Alpine habitats provide important foraging and breeding areas for many mammals and birds as well as critical resources for birds during migration periods. These habitats are at risk from increased recreational activity due to their fragile nature. Climate change negatively impacts alpine habitats by reducing snowpack, increasing temperatures, and altering precipitation patterns. This may lead to the upward migration of trees, shrubs, and forbs that outcompete alpine plants, leading to habitat loss. Alpine habitats provide important resources for many at-risk species, such as the federally threatened whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis).

    Conservation Actions

    Reduce habitat fragmentation and increase connectivity to allow plants and animals to move and track shifting resources as climate conditions change. Incorporate climate adaptation into alpine habitat management plans. Manage recreation, human disturbance, and grazing to minimize impacts to soil and plant communities. Monitor and control invasive plants. Re-introduce fire into the ecosystem to prevent fuel build-up and canopy closure as feasible and appropriate to the local area. Identify blister rust resistant whitebark pine trees and collect the seeds for nursery stock.

  • Aquatic Vegetation Beds

    Ecoregions

    All

    Comments

    Aquatic vegetation beds are a component of freshwater ponds, riverine sloughs and alcoves, estuaries, and nearshore waters. They are at the base of the food chain and provide habitat for a host of organisms from bacteria, protozoa, and invertebrates to fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Vital to maintaining the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems, their preservation and restoration are essential for supporting biodiversity, improving water quality, and providing numerous ecosystem services that benefit both wildlife and human communities.

    Conservation Actions

    Retain and restore natural water flow regimes. Maintain consistent water levels. Mitigate impacts from climate change. Monitor for and control invasive plants such as reed canary grass and Ludwigia spp. Mitigate effects of runoff from agricultural fields and roadways. Limit or prohibit dredging in estuarine algal beds.

  • Ash Flows, Ash Beds, and Lava Fields

    Ecoregions

    BM, EC, NBR

    Comments

    Ash flows, ash beds, and lava fields provide habitat for many rare, endemic, and/or specialized plants and invertebrates, such as the Oregon lava hole bee (Atoposmia oregona). These sites can also be important fossil localities.

    Conservation Actions

    Manage grazing, mining, and off-highway vehicles to minimize erosion and disturbance to rare plants and invertebrates.

  • Balds and Bluffs

    Ecoregions

    BM, CR, EC, KM, WC, WV

    Comments

    Balds and bluffs provide habitat for unique plant communities and invertebrates such as butterflies. In the Coast Range ecoregion, these habitats include coastal bluffs and headlands. In the Klamath Mountains ecoregion, these habitats include serpentine barrens and outcrops. In the Willamette Valley ecoregion, these habitats include wet rock outcrops dominated by camas (Camassia spp.) and other wet prairie species.

    Conservation Actions

    Better mapping and documentation of balds and bluffs are needed. Control encroaching conifers and shrubs. Monitor for and control invasive plants. Minimize disturbance (e.g., trail or road construction, recreation) to help protect rare plant communities. Protect hydrology to maintain perched wetland and wet rock outcrop function. Consider impacts from changing fire regimes.

  • Bays

    Ecoregions

    CR, NS

    Comments

    Bays provide winter habitat for waterfowl and other waterbirds, rearing areas for juvenile anadromous salmonids, and habitat for intertidal and subtidal shellfish beds, including native oyster beds.

    Conservation Actions

    Provide areas of low disturbance during critical life history needs and time periods. Minimize impacts from in-water activities such as dredging, as well as impacts from overwater structures. Coordinate with landowners, communities, local governments, development interests and other partners to properly plan development to avoid, minimize and mitigate impacts to bay ecosystems.

  • Bitterbrush Communities

    Ecoregions

    BM, EC, NBR, WC

    Comments

    Antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) is an important habitat component that provides forage, cover, and nesting habitat for a variety of wildlife. It provides high value winter forage for deer, elk and pronghorn, supports a variety of insect pollinators, and provides seeds that support a diversity of small mammals. In some areas, juniper encroachment threatens bitterbrush communities by outcompeting and shading bitterbrush.

    Conservation Actions

    Improve understanding of bitterbrush regeneration methods. Continue restoration and monitoring efforts. Manage grazing pressure based on site conditions. Bitterbrush can be impacted by prescribed fire; caution is needed if considering this tool in proximity.

  • Canyon Shrublands

    Ecoregions

    BM, CP, EC, NBR

    Comments

    Also known as moist deciduous shrublands, canyon shrublands provide nesting habitat for songbirds and winter habitat for SGCN such as Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus).

    Conservation Actions

    Maintain healthy shrub stands and restore degraded stands. Some degraded stands can benefit from prescribed fire, removal of encroaching invasive junipers, or management of grazing season timing.

  • Caves and Old Mines

    Ecoregions

    BM, CR, EC, KM, NBR, WC

    Comments

    Caves and old mines provide habitat for rare invertebrates and cave-roosting bats, such as Townsend’s big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii) and several Myotis species. In the East Cascades ecoregion, these habitats include lava tubes.

    Conservation Actions

    Use gates or seasonal closures to protect known roost sites from recreational caving and other disturbance. When mines are closed for human safety, provide openings for bat entry and exit. Be aware of the potential for white-nosed syndrome; thoroughly sanitize all clothing, footwear, and equipment between caves to prevent potential contamination.

  • Chaparral and Ceanothus Shrubland

    Ecoregions

    BM, CR, KM, WC, WV

    Comments

    Chaparral and ceanothus shrublands provide cover, nesting, and foraging habitat for songbirds, kingsnakes, and a variety of invertebrates, including some butterfly species. These shrublands occur in open areas, so may be found in early successional habitats or at high elevations, where temperatures and other factors inhibit tree growth. In the Klamath Mountains ecoregion, chaparral is often removed as a fire hazard, as some species are highly flammable and dependent on fire for seed germination. Chaparral is also increasingly removed during development, particularly in lowland valleys. These habitats are at risk from fire suppression—many ceanothus species become senescent without the fires needed for regeneration. Chaparral is also unusual habitat in the Willamette Valley, which makes protecting existing sites important for maintaining local species diversity.

    Conservation Actions

    Maintain shrub diversity during forest management activities. Delay replanting with conifers where shrub habitat is limited. Control key invasive plants (e.g., Scotch broom and Armenian (Himalayan) blackberry) and animals such as feral horses at priority sites. Implement controlled burns or other fire management techniques where appropriate to the local area.

  • Eelgrass Beds

    Ecoregions

    CR, NS

    Comments

    Eelgrass beds support the aquatic food chain and provide essential habitat for many species to fulfill their life history needs. They provide habitat to support intertidal and subtidal shellfish beds, including native oyster beds. They also provide important rearing habitat for juvenile fish, including commercially important species, and foraging habitat for birds, such as Brant (Branta bernicla).

    Conservation Actions

    Ensure that development activities that may disturb eelgrass beds avoid, minimize and mitigate direct and indirect impacts. Discourage dredging or fill of estuaries and eelgrass beds. Monitor and control invasive species. Restore and monitor eelgrass habitats. Research the role of eelgrass in mitigating the impacts from climate change. Protect genetic diversity within eelgrass populations (see Estuaries).

  • Fen Peatlands

    Ecoregions

    BM, CR, EC, KM, WC

    Comments

    Fens are peat-accumulating wetlands that form where groundwater discharge is low but constant, and where appropriate geologic conditions occur, such as glacial deposits with pumice. Fens provide habitat for sensitive plant species and provide long-term carbon storage in the form of peat. They are highly sensitive to climate change, which may reverse the process of peat accretion and lead to carbon loss. Serpentine fens are a unique subset of these groundwater dependent wetlands.

    Conservation Actions

    Maintain groundwater recharge areas, especially at higher elevations. Use conservation incentives, and where applicable, maintain existing protection standards to provide buffers around fen areas. Seek opportunities to enhance recharge from local aquifers supporting the fens.

  • Forest Openings

    Ecoregions

    BM, CR, EC, KM, WC, WV

    Comments

    Forest openings provide essential structural complexity and plant diversity within forests. Forest openings provide foraging habitat for a variety of species that are adapted to open meadows, early seral habitat, and forest edges. They support bird species like Olive-sided Flycatchers, Willow Flycatchers, and Common Nighthawks, as well as species that prefer open habitat with snags such as Purple Martin and Western Bluebird. Clouded salamanders live in large logs and stumps in openings, and their populations increase following wildfires. Disturbances such as wildfire, windthrow, disease, and insect outbreaks reset succession and often result in large or small openings with high forb and shrub diversity and woody structure (e.g., large snags and logs). Management of older successional forest stages on public land typically does not include maintaining forest openings, and private forestlands are usually intensively managed for production, which leads to a rarity in forest openings with structural complexity and plant diversity.

    Conservation Actions

    During salvage logging or other timber harvest, minimize ground disturbance, and maintain and create snags and downed logs. Pursue forest management activities that create forest openings and maintain natural forb, grass, and shrub species. Control key invasive plants in openings. After burns, reseed with native grasses and forbs, and delay replanting with conifers. Carefully evaluate salvage logging in burned late successional forests. Continue post-fire research efforts to better understand the effects of post-fire management on vegetation communities. Provide education to the public about how not to spread invasive plant species and the importance of control and management.

  • Unique Grassland Habitats

    Ecoregions

    EC, KM, NBR

    Comments

    Unique grassland habitats in Oregon include alkali grasslands, perennial bunchgrass, and montane grasslands. These habitats are important for raptors, grassland birds, and rare plants.

    Conservation Actions

    Maintain and restore these unique grasslands using site-appropriate tools. Monitor for invasive species. Manage grazing to minimize impacts to native species.

  • Greasewood Flats and Washes

    Ecoregions

    BM, CP, EC, NBR

    Comments

    Greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) is typically found in flats, washes, and terraces with saline soils and shallow water tables. Flats, washes, and terraces flood intermittently but remain dry for most of the growing season, providing habitat for rare plants. Greasewood is an important browse species for deer and pronghorn, as well as SGCN like white-tailed jackrabbit and North American porcupine. These habitats are threatened by changing fire regimes and the spread of invasive annual grasses.

    Conservation Actions

    Maintain and restore greasewood habitats. In the Blue Mountains, include black greasewood habitats when managing for a mosaic of valley bottom habitats.

  • Inland Dunes

    Ecoregions

    CP, CR, NBR

    Comments

    Inland dunes include active and partially stabilized dunes in arid inland regions. These dunes provide habitat for a variety of species including reptiles, small mammals, and rare plants. In the Columbia Plateau ecoregion, stabilized dunes often support basin big sagebrush and bitterbrush. In the Northern Basin and Range ecoregion, the Christmas Valley Sand Dunes are the largest inland shifting sand dune system in the Pacific Northwest. The alkaline sands of the Northern Basin and Range ecoregion support salt desert dune shrubs such as greasewood and saltbush. Inland dunes along the Columbia River have stabilized in recent decades after the damming of the Columbia River. Historically these dunes were fed by sand transported and deposited annually by the river. Inland dunes are threatened by the spread of non-native species such as Russian thistle.

    Conservation Actions

    Maintain and enhance existing habitat. Monitor for and control invasive species. Protect dunes from uncontrolled off-highway vehicle use.

  • Interdunal Lakes and Wetlands

    Ecoregions

    CR

    Comments

    These habitats are comprised of shallow lakes and wetlands located in areas between coastal sand dunes. Wetlands in the dunal system may occur in the deflation plains, depressions, swales or low areas. They are typically seasonally inundated, usually without a naturally occurring inlet or outlet, and often with significant cover of native plant species. Water levels in interdunal lakes and wetlands are dependent on local precipitation to recharge sand dune aquifers. These lakes and wetlands provide breeding habitat for SGCN, including northern red-legged frogs, and support unique wetland plant communities.

    Conservation Actions

    Maintain groundwater recharge areas at sand dune aquifers. Protect these habitats from off-road vehicle use and other impacts from human recreation and development.

  • Intertidal Mudflats

    Ecoregions

    CR, NS

    Comments

    Intertidal mudflats provide foraging habitat for shorebirds, which is critically important during migration. Mudflats also serve as habitat for a diversity of invertebrate species such as clams and other shellfish.

    Conservation Actions

    Manage water flows to maintain mudflat habitats. Maintain or restore water quality and natural sedimentation patterns to preserve habitat quality for invertebrates. See Estuaries.

     

  • Kelp beds

    Ecoregions

    NS

    Comments

    Limited to subtidal rocky areas in relatively shallow water, kelp beds are designated as essential fish habitat for both groundfish and salmon. These areas provide important habitat for a diversity of other species in the nearshore ecoregion as well.

    Conservation Actions

    Reduce coastal runoff that increases turbidity in nearshore ocean waters. Minimize risk of oil spills and pollution. Fill data gaps on the gametophyte stage of the kelp life cycle. Monitor status of kelp bed densities at index sites. Expand research and monitoring efforts needed to generate the data and information required to develop effective kelp bed restoration methodologies. Foster collaboration between scientists and managers to optimize research outcomes for use in management and conservation, specifically to address limiting factors (e.g. grazer abundance, ocean conditions, etc.) that impact kelp bed health (see Nearshore Habitats and Appendix – Nearshore Climate Fact Sheets).

     

• Mountain Mahogany Woodland and Shrubland

  Ecoregions

  BM, EC, NBR

  Comments

  Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus spp.) communities have expanded in some areas due to fire suppression but depend on low-intensity fire for long-term maintenance and regeneration. Many stands are threatened by non-native understory vegetation and juniper encroachment is a threat in some areas, especially in the Northern Basin and Range. In the East Cascades ecoregion, mountain mahogany is more diverse than in other ecoregions. Mountain mahogany in the East Cascades ecoregion includes birchleaf mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), which is found throughout moist shrublands in the southern portion of the ecoregion. Mountain mahogany serves as important nesting habitat for birds because it provides tree structure in otherwise open, shrub-dominated landscapes. Mountain mahogany also provides forage and cover for a diversity of mammal species.

  Conservation Actions

  Develop methods to manage mahogany stands and encourage regeneration. Restore native understory vegetation at priority sites. Conduct conifer management within and adjacent to stands, particularly western juniper management.

• Off-channel Habitat

  Ecoregions

  All inland ecoregions

  Comments

  Off-channel habitat, such as alcove and side channels, provide critical rearing, security, and foraging habitat for juvenile salmonids and other native fish, northwestern pond turtles, freshwater mussels, and other invertebrates.

  Conservation Actions

  Protect and restore off-channel habitat, including restoration of natural stream hydrology. Avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to off-channel and riparian habitat from development actions. Manage beaver populations to provide for beaver-modified habitats, while minimizing conflicts with other land uses. Restore tidal and riverine inundation to these areas and restore or enhance connectivity. See Flowing Water and Riparian Habitat.

• Port-Orford Cedar Forests

  Ecoregions

  KM, CR

  Comments

  Endemic to southwestern Oregon and northwestern California, Port Orford cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana) forests are associated with serpentine soils and are characterized by unusual plant and animal associations, co-occurring with SGCN such as large-flowered rush lily. These habitats have been severely impacted by an introduced, fungus-like tree disease, the Port Orford cedar root disease, particularly near the coast.

  Conservation Actions

  Maintain and protect existing habitat. Minimize vehicular traffic and/or new road construction where potential exists to spread the invasive root pathogen.

• Rock Habitats: Cliffs, Rimrock, Rock Outcrops, and Talus

  Ecoregions

  BM, CR, CP, EC, KM, NBR, WC, WV

  Comments

  Rocky areas provide habitat for peregrine falcons and other cliff-nesting birds, cliff-roosting bats, rare plants, and wildlife that use rocks for shelter and/or foraging areas. Talus slopes provide habitat for Larch Mountain salamander, pika, and several invertebrates. In the Willamette Valley, rock outcrops serve as hibernacula for snakes, including western rattlesnakes. In dry ecoregions, rock habitats are particularly important for salamanders as a refuge from hot, dry weather.

  Conservation Actions

  These habitats have few limiting factors in most ecoregions. In the East Cascades, residential development at the edge of rims alters vegetation and disturbs nesting birds. Work with local planners to implement existing setback distance standards through the Statewide Planning Program. Rock mining should be avoided in talus areas where known populations of Larch Mountain salamander and rare invertebrates occur. For all ecoregions, if important roosts, hibernacula, or nest sites are known, minimize disturbance.

• Rocky Shores, Tidepools, and Offshore Rocks (E.G. Sea Stacks)

  Ecoregions

  CR, NS

  Comments

  Rocky shores and offshore rocks provide critical nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds and shorebirds, including SGCN like Tufted Puffin and Black Oystercatcher. These areas also serve as haul-outs for marine mammals, and as roosting areas for raptors, including peregrine falcons. Rocky shores, tidepools, and offshore rocks also provide habitat for a variety of marine invertebrates and fish.

  Conservation Actions

  Work with local communities and land management agencies to avoid and minimize impacts from tidepool viewing, and to minimize disturbance to birds and marine mammals during sensitive nesting and pupping seasons. Increase research to better understand the impacts of thermal heatwaves and other climate-related stressors. See Nearshore Habitats.

• Salt Desert Scrub

  Ecoregions

  NBR

  Comments

  This low-to-medium shrub habitat can be found on dry sites with saline soils, such as dry lake beds, flat desert pavements, low alkaline dunes, around playas, or on gentle slopes above playas. Salt desert scrub provides habitat for a diversity of reptiles and mammal species, including species that are primarily or exclusively associated with this habitat, such as kit fox and long-nosed leopard lizard.

  Conservation Actions

  Salt desert scrub is threatened by invasion of non-native annual grasses, particularly cheatgrass. Biological soil crusts are particularly critical in these habitats, so it is important to minimize activities that cause soil disturbance, such as hiking, biking, and off-highway vehicle use.

• Sand Spits, Sand Bars, and Sparsely Vegetated Islands

  Ecoregions

  CR, EC, NBR, NS

  Comments

  Sparsely vegetated sandy habitats that are isolated from disturbance due to humans and mammalian predators are important roosting and nesting sites for colonial waterbirds, such as American White Pelicans, Brown Pelicans, and Caspian Terns. In eastern Oregon, this habitat occurs around large lakes and wetlands. Sparsely vegetated island habitat can be surrounded by either saltwater or freshwater.

  Conservation Actions

  Maintain open habitat characteristics and minimize disturbance at key sites. Manage water levels to preserve island habitats.

• Springs, Seeps, and Headwaters

  Ecoregions

  All inland ecoregions

  Comments

  Springs, seeps, and headwaters provide habitat for amphibians, invertebrates, and rare plants. The isolated nature of springs is one of the factors resulting in high levels of invertebrate endemism in the East Cascades. Spring systems in the Northern Basin and Range also contain endemic species, including vertebrates (e.g., Hutton tui chub and Foskett speckled dace). In dry ecoregions, spring and seep habitats are important as a source of water for wildlife and as habitat for amphibians and invertebrates. These habitats have been impacted by livestock watering and agricultural uses. Springs, seeps, and headwaters are critical to protect for climate resiliency, particularly for water quantity and quality, and are a refuge for multiple species during and following wildfire.

  Conservation Actions

  Encourage use of incentives, and where applicable, maintain existing protection standards to provide buffers around springs, seeps, and stream headwaters during development actions, such as forest management and road building activities. Maintain and protect groundwater recharge areas and cold water refugia. Use open-bottomed culverts or bridges when building roads or upgrading culverts to allow fish and wildlife passage. In dry ecoregions, use cooperative incentive programs to fence spring heads, which provides benefits to wildlife but allows water to be available for other uses. Minimize impacts from climate change.

• Spring-fed Streams

  Ecoregions

  BM, EC, KM, WC, WV

  Comments

  Streams dominated by groundwater rather than surface runoff are characterized by more stable flow and thermal regimes. Spring-fed rivers often display relatively static morphology compared to runoff systems, and habitat complexity is provided by aquatic plants and large wood inputs. These factors, along with nutrient rich inputs from underlying geology, contribute to ecological productivity. These streams support cool-water species such as bull trout and provide refugia for other temperature-limited species. Spring-fed streams are also a critical resource for climate resiliency.

  Conservation Actions

  Identify and protect the state’s cold-water resources. Conduct real-time flow and temperature monitoring in priority areas. Maintain and protect groundwater recharge areas, especially at higher elevations. Maintain, protect, and restore natural water flow regimes. Maintain and protect supporting aquifers. Minimize impacts from climate change.

• Western Juniper Savanna with Mature Trees; Late Successional Western Juniper Woodlands

  Ecoregions

  BM, CP, EC, NBR

  Comments

  Western juniper savannas consist of scattered, often large, juniper trees within shrub-steppe. Late successional juniper woodlands may have a higher density of trees but are characterized by large-diameter trees. These juniper habitats are important for songbirds and raptors. In the Columbia Plateau ecoregion, the remaining Ferruginous Hawk nest sites are primarily juniper trees.

  A small percentage of Oregon’s juniper woodlands are considered late successional. A high percentage of old-growth juniper in Central Oregon near Bend, Redmond, and Madras has been lost. Remaining stands are highly fragmented and are threatened by encroaching small junipers. In contrast, recruitment of juniper in the sandy shrub-steppe of the Columbia Plateau is naturally poor, so young juniper trees are not replacing older ones lost to cutting or natural death.

  Conservation Actions

  Remove small diameter encroaching juniper trees while maintaining larger diameter junipers and connectivity of juniper patches. Reintroduce fire where practical. Collect better spatial data on the distribution of mature juniper savanna. In the Columbia Plateau, maintain existing large juniper trees and examine factors affecting tree recruitment. Research is underway to determine the age, composition, structure, and wildlife usage of old growth juniper woodlands (for more information, see the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center website).

• Western Larch Forest and Woodland

  Ecoregions

  BM, EC

  Comments

  Western larch (Larix occidentalis) forests and woodlands occur on cool, moist sites interspersed with ponderosa pine habitats. These habitats may have been much more common historically in the Blue Mountains ecoregion.

  Conservation Actions

  Maintain large-diameter larch trees and patches of larch forest to provide local diversity. Control key invasive plants.