15 



Pond TOWNSHIP. RANGE. SEC. OTR SEC ELEVATION 



POND A.) T24N R17W Section 6, SE^NW^SW^ ; 955.8 m (3135'). 



POND B.) T24N R18W Section 1, NE^SE^; 942.1 m (3090 1 ). 



POND C.) T19N R17W Section 12, NW^SEJjNW^ ; 1295.7 m (4250'). 



POND D.) T19N R17W Section 12, SW^SE^NW^; 1291.2 m (4235 1 ). 



The locations of these transplant sites are shown maps on pp. 16- 

 17. 



Transects at ponds A and B were read on 18 July 1990, and at 

 ponds C and D on 19 July 1990. Transects were read by carefully 

 wading out into the pond and visually searching along the length 

 of the tape for H. aquatilis plants. After reading the transect, 

 the rest of the area near the transect and the rest of the pond 

 were searched for H. aquatilis . This ensured that any seeds of 

 H. aquatilis in ponds C and D that might have floated away and 

 established plants elsewhere were located. 



RESULTS: Howellia aquatilis was present in two of the four 

 transplant ponds (A and B) in 1991. Howellia aquatilis was not 

 observed in ponds C or D. Results for ponds A and B are as are 

 in Table 5, p. 18, and Table 6, p. 19, respectively. Plants were 

 located very near the points where the soil cores were placed 

 along the tape. 



DISCUSSION: As stated in the earlier report (Shelly and 

 Schassberger 1990) , two of the four ponds receiving soil plugs 

 still contained water on the transplant date (C and D) , and it is 

 unlikely that these ponds dried out much further prior to 

 freezing. The transects in the other ponds (A and B) were not 

 under water on the transfer date. The results of the field 

 transplants appear to confirm the observed laboratory results 

 that H. aquatilis is not capable of germinating under water 

 (Lesica 1990) . This may help to explain why population sizes 

 fluctuate from year to year. If ponds do not dry out in the fall 

 of a particular year, even if fruiting and seed production are 

 high, the seeds would not germinate and the population would be 

 reduced in size the following year. 



A small number of plants were established in transplant ponds A 

 and B in 1990 (32 and 5 plants, respectively) . Both ponds 

 contained plants that were reproductive. However, as noted at 

 the bottom of Tables 5 and 6, Pond A had a large number of 

 flowering plants with submergent or emergent flowers or both, 

 while Pond B contained only five plants with submergent flowers. 

 While the transplants to ponds A and B could be considered a 

 success in 1990, it remains to be seen whether or not these small 

 H. aquatilis populations are present next year or thereafter. If 

 these transplant populations remain viable, it might be 

 hypothesized that dispersal limitations keep H. aquatilis from 

 establishing in currently uninhabited but suitable ponds. 



