Colorado Butterfly Plant (Gaura neomexicana coloradensis) in Nebraska

Authors

Travis Wooten

Date of this Version

10-2008

Document Type

Technical Report

Citation

Wooten, Travis. 2008. Colorado Butterfly Plant (Gaura neomexicana coloradensis) in Nebraska. Nebraska Prairie Partners. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. 6pp.

Abstract

The state of Nebraska contains a wide variety of plants, twenty of which are listed in The Nebraska Natural Legacy Project as Tier I species of conservation concern (Schneider et al. 2005). Of the 20 Tier I listed species, 4 are listed as either Endangered or Threatened on the Threatened & Endangered Species System (TESS) list (USFWS 2008), with Gaura neomexicana ssp. coloradensis being one of these four. The common name of Gaura neomexicana ssp. coloradensis is the Colorado butterfly plant, and is currently listed as threatened, both state and federally. In Nebraska it is only found along the Lodgepole Creek drainage in Kimball County in the southwest corner of the panhandle. On 18 October 2000 the Colorado butterfly plant was designated as Threatened on the Endangered Species list (USFWS 2000), and continues to be one of the rarest plant species in the state.

Nebraska Prairie Partners (NPP), a cooperative partnership between Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO) and Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC), is dedicated to conserving native birds and their habitats, and in an effort to broaden future research sources within Kimball County decided to conduct the first Colorado Butterfly Plant surveys in over ten years to determine the species current population status. Our goals were to 1) see if the Colorado butterfly plant still existed in Nebraska, and 2) if it was still present, to what extent. Specifically, we addressed the current population number, health of the plant(s), soil conditions, and if Lodgepole Creek still contained water in the targeted stretch of the creek where the Colorado Butterfly Plant was known to have historically occurred. The specific area of Lodgepole Creek we were interested in was an eight mile stretch, starting at the Wyoming state line and extended east into Nebraska, as well as Oliver Reservoir State Recreation Area (SRA), an impoundment created by the damming of Lodgepole Creek a few miles downstream of the targeted area. The Colorado butterfly plant is not known to exist anywhere else in the state, deeming this area of Lodgepole Creek as critical for the survival and preservation of this species in Nebraska.