SUMMARY 



Botrychium roinqanense is a small fern that occurs widely in 

 northern North America extending south into Montana and other 

 western states. Species in this genus are often hard to 

 distinguish and the taxonomy is currently in flux. In Montana, it 

 is currently known from seven locations. Two are in Glacier 

 National Park in the Logan Pass area, one near Mount Aeneas in 

 the Swan Range, two at Swan Lake, and two in the Ninemile Creek 

 valley northwest of Missoula. Field surveys in July and August of 

 1991 located one additional population which is one of the two 

 populations in the Ninemile area. Botrychium minganense has 

 recently been added to the list of sensitive species for Region 1 

 of the U.S. Forest Service but has no status under the Endangered 

 Species Act. It is classified as an SI species (critically 

 imperiled because of rarity) by the Montana Natural Heritage 

 Program. 



Botrychium minganense is reported from a wide variety of 

 habitats ranging from low elevation meadows, riverbanks, sand 

 dunes and woods to high elevation alpine meadows. In Montana, it 

 occurs in low elevation, moist forests as well as alpine areas. 

 In Ninemile Creek valley of the Lolo National Forest, it occurs 

 in deeply-shaded creek bottoms in moist to wet Thuja plicata/ 

 Oplopanax horridum and Thuja plicata/Clintonia unif lora habitat 

 types. These sites are close to stream channels and are likely 

 affected by periodic flooding. 



Population size of Botrychium minganense is generally small 

 and varies from year to year. The plants reproduce both sexually 

 by spores and vegetatively by gemmae, and contain mycorrhizal 

 fungi. 



Timber harvest and grazing are potential threats to these 

 plants. Management planning should take all Montana populations 

 into account in order to maintain viable populations on U.S. 

 Forest Service lands. Field surveys should be continued in areas 

 of suitable habitat and monitoring of existing populations should 

 be established. 



