In the summer of 1993, the Storm Lake area was surveyed 

 to learn more about the population and to attempt to discover 

 new occurrences of B. paradoxum. This paper describes the 

 methods and results of this project and incorporates 

 information from previous reports to serve as a summary of the 

 species' known status on the Deerlodge National Forest. It 

 also serves as a prototype for expanded survey and species 

 status summary. 



METHODS 



Field surveys for Botrychium paradoxum were conducted on 

 the Deerlodge National Forest and adjacent lands in the 

 immediate and general vicinity of Storm Lake on July 30 

 through August 5, 1993. On July 30, Sherry Vogel showed me 

 where the species had been relocated the previous summer and 

 we tried to estimate the size of the population and 

 characterize the habitat where it occurs. A method for 

 surveying these extremely inconspicuous plants began to 

 evolve. The searcher stoops, sits, or kneels (usually the 

 latter) in putative moonwort habitat and closely scans a swath 

 of ground, crawling along and moving "overstory" graminoids 

 and forbs aside with her/his hands until a Botrychium (of any 

 species) is found or the search is abandoned. If a single 

 plant is found, then further, more intensive search is 

 warranted. Plants of each Botrychium species encountered are 

 counted separately and search continues for a certain amount 

 of time, then the searcher moves on. No attempt is made to 

 count every plant in a given area; this would require a huge 

 amount of time, and would result in excessive trampling of the 

 population. Crude and relative estimates of population 

 density, numbers, and boundaries, and community composition 

 can be based on the numbers of moonworts counted per unit time 

 across a certain area. Different adjacent habitats (wet 

 meadows, dry rocky meadows, and coniferous forests) were 

 searched in this manner to determine the ecological amplitude 

 of the species. Subsequent surveys concentrated on mesic 

 openings and meadows, the only habitat where B. paradoxum was 

 found around Storm Lake. 



During the following week, searches were conducted in the 

 Storm Lake basin and around other sub-alpine lakes within a 

 few miles, according to Susan Rinehart's (1992) 

 recommendations, and other locations in the vicinity were 

 explored. A ridgetop meadow ("Windy Ridge") was surveyed 

 based on the appearance of "potential" habitat in the distance 

 while driving. On August 3, Steve Shelly and John Joy helped 

 survey a population of B. paradoxum which was discovered there 

 the previous evening. One Hundred Acre Meadow was searched at 



