Threatened, Endangered, and Candidate Species of the Mark Twain National Forest

There are many different types of species in the U.S. from the very large to the very small. Some of these species, because of limitations due to habitat destruction, overexploitation, or other environmental factors, are in danger of becoming extinct. These species are known as federally endangered or threatened species.

The Mark Twain National Forest has potential habitat for 14 federally threatened, endangered, and candidate species in Missouri. They are the gray bat, Indiana bat, bald eagle, Hine’s emerald dragonfly, pink mucket pearly, Scaleshell, Spectaclcase, Sheepnose, Tumbling Creek cave snail, Topeka shiner, Ozark hellbender, Mead’s milkweed, running buffalo clover, and Virginia sneezeweed.

The Mark Twain National Forest is committed to working towards the protection and recovery of these species. The Forest Service conducts population studies and surveys for many of these species in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Mark Twain National Forest is managed to provide quality habitat, where ecologically appropriate, for all federally endangered, threatened, or candidate species that may occur on the Forest or that may be affected by Forest management.

All forest management activities are conducted to avoid or minimize potential impacts to any federally listed species or its habitat. All forest management activities are evaluated for potential impacts and the Forest Service consults with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service if actions may affect federally listed species.

 

Mammals

 

Gray bats (Myotis grisescens)

photo courtesy of the Chattahoochee Nature Center

Gray bats are one of the largest species of the Myotis family found in the Eastern United States and are listed as endangered. This bat is gray and can reach body lengths of 4 inches and a wingspan of 11-12 inches. Its habitat is restricted to caves. They eat flying insects and are known to travel 12 to 45 miles for nightly food. They forage in riparian areas, including streams, rivers, ponds, and lakes.

Their decline is primarily due to human disturbance and habitat alteration or destruction. The Mark Twain National Forest has about 20 caves which are used by gray bats as maternity caves, hibernation caves, or transient caves. Four caves are gated to protect the maternity colonies from human disturbance.

The Mark Twain has populations of about 80,800 gray bats during the summer. Gray bats use different caves during the winter, and migration distance from summer caves can be as close as 10 miles or as far as 200 miles.

The Mark Twain National Forest is working to protect habitat for gray bats by prohibiting human entry into gray bat caves when bats are present, and providing foraging habitat in healthy riparian forests along streams that run through the Forest.

 

Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis)

(USFWS photo)

Indiana bats reach three inches in length. These bats are endangered and have been declining since the 1960’s due to human disturbance, habitat alteration, and other unknown factors. Their life span ranges from ten to twenty years. The oldest Indiana bat on record is thirty years. They eat insects, and forage in forested upland or riparian areas, around ponds, and field edges.

The Mark Twain National Forest has four hibernation caves with an estimated population of 275-400 hibernating bats. Maternity colonies can be found in trees with flakey, plate-like bark, and several maternity colony trees have been located on the Salem, Potosi, and Popular Bluff Ranger Districts. Male roost trees have also been located on Salem, and Potosi/Fredericktown Ranger Districts.

The Mark Twain National Forest is actively involved in gathering information about this species by summer mist-netting surveys, population surveys in hibernation caves, and working with the Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to study the effects of forest management on Indiana bats and their summer habitat.

The Mark Twain National Forest is also providing high quality summer habitat through protection of existing and potential roost trees and by providing foraging habitat across the Forest. The Mark Twain National Forest protects winter hibernation caves by prohibiting human entry when the bats are present.

 

Birds

Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)

(USFWS photo)

Bald eagles have an average wingspan of 72-85 inches and are around 30-34 inches long. On the average, the bald eagle lives to be 15-20 years old; but the oldest eagle recorded was 48 years old. Bald eagles commonly weigh ten to fourteen pounds.

It is illegal to collect eagles, or any eagle body parts, nests, or eggs without a permit due to provisions in the Migratory Bird Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

In 1963, there were only 417 pair of bald eagles; today there are an estimated 7,678 pair in the United States. Protection afforded by these acts and the ban on DDT has allowed the bald eagle’s listing to be lowered from Endangered to Threatened.

The Mark Twain National Forest annually counts 30-70 wintering bald eagles on National Forest lands along major rivers and near large impoundments. Bald eagles use these areas in winter because the water doesn’t freeze which provides the eagles a winter long supply of fish. There are also many chicken farms in the region providing an alternative source of food.

One inactive nest has been found on N.F. lands. There are several active nests within the Mark Twain National Forest proclamation boundary on private, other federal, and state-administered lands. The Mark Twain National Forest provides habitat for bald eagles by protecting riparian forests along major streams and lakes.

 

Insects

Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana)

(USFWS photo)

Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly is listed as endangered. The main reason for their decline is continued loss of habitat to agriculture, commercial, and industrial development, as well as disruption of ecological and hydrological processes. These dragonflies have a 3.3-inch wingspan and are 2 inches long. Adults live only 4-5 weeks. Both the larval and adult stages feed on invertebrates.

The largest breeding population in the world is located in Door County, Wisconsin. Its preferred habitat is in calcareous marshes, fens, and sedge meadows.

The Mark Twain National Forest has 9 known sites, which have a total of about 40 individuals. These sites are located on Salem, Potosi, Eleven Point, and Popular Bluff Ranger Districts.

The Mark Twain National Forest provides habitat for Hine’s emerald dragonflies by protecting fens from disturbance; and manages fens to provide optimum conditions for Hine’s emerald dragonflies by removing woody vegetation that competes with grasses and by occasionally using prescribed burning to rejuvenate the grasses and other herbaceous plants that occur on high quality fens.

 

Mussels

Pink Mucket pearlymussel (Lampsilis orbiculata = abrupta)

(USFWS photo)

Pink Mucket pearlymussel habitat consists of large stream reaches with flowing water that covers beds of gravel and sand. Water can vary from 2.5 cm to 8 meters deep. The main cause of their endangered status is stream damming, dredging, and channelization.

Adults are filter feeders and spend their entire lives partially to completely buried in streambed substrates. Glochidia (or mussel larvae) are released in June when they must attach to gills of a host fish, which for pink mucket pearly mussel includes sauger, freshwater drum, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and spotted bass.

There is only one site in which the pink mucket occurs in waters adjacent to Mark Twain National Forest lands, while there are five sites within the Mark Twain National Forest proclamation boundary. These sites are all along the Black River on the Popular Bluff Ranger District.

The Mark Twain National Forest provides quality habitat for this and other mussels by not altering stream channels or damming free-flowing stream, and by managing forests in watersheds to avoid soil erosion and maintain good water quality.

 

Scaleshell (Leptodea leptodon)

(USFWS photo)

Scaleshell habitat consists of medium to large rivers with stable channels and good water quality. These mussels bury themselves in sand and gravel up to 5 inches deep.

Glochidia attach to the host fish, freshwater drum. Scaleshell mussels are filter feeders, which means they filter their food out of the water.

Some causes for its endangered status are damming, sedimentation, pesticides, non-native species (zebra mussel), and degraded water quality.

Scaleshell mussels occur in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri. Live scaleshell mussels occur at several sites within the Mark Twain National Forest on the Houston/Rolla/Cedar Creek Ranger District on the Gasconade River.

 

Spectaclecase (Cumbelandia monodonta)

(USFWS photo)

Spectaclecase & Their preferred habitat is large rivers with swift moving water among boulders in patches of sand, cobble, or gravel. They are currently listed as a Candidate species under the Endangered Species Act. This filter feeder is found in the Gasconade River around the Houston/Rolla/Cedar Creek Ranger District.

 

 

 

 

Sheepnose or bullhead (Plethobasus cyphyus)

(USFWS photo)

Sheepnose or bullhead is also a Candidate species under the Endangered Species Act. This freshwater mussel will reach the length of around five inches. Their habitat mainly is in medium to large rivers in gravel or mixed sand and gravel. It is found in the Meramec River drainage near the Salem, Potosi, Fredericktown, and Popular Bluff Ranger Districts.

 

Snails

Tumbling Creek Cavesnail (Antrobia)

(USFWS photo)

Tumbling Creek Cavesnail is a species in which not many humans have ever seen. Its length is around 1/10 of an inch. There are only 60 individuals left in the world and is listed as endangered.

The snail can be found only in only location in the world -Tumbling Creek Cave, located on private land in Taney County, Missouri. About 23% of the cave stream recharge area is located north of the cave on the Ava unit of the Mark Twain National Forest.

The cavesnail lives in the gravel rock substrate of the cave stream. The primary cause of decline is believed to be decreased water quality in the cave stream.

Active restoration efforts are taking place on private lands to help improve water quality. The Mark Twain National Forest manages its part of the cave recharge area to minimize soil movement and erosion and avoid contributing sediment to the cave stream.

The cave recharge area on the Forest is also managed to restore healthy vegetation to the unique glade ecosystems, which will result in better long-term water quality in the cave.

 

Fish

The Topeka Shiner (Notropis Topeka)

Photo by Missouri Department of Conservation ©

The Topeka Shiner is listed as endangered. This fish reaches a maximum of 3 inches in length. They can survive in small to medium-sized prairie streams with high water quality and cool to moderate temperature.

Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska have designated critical habitat for this fish. Missouri has not because it has the Missouri Action Plan for the Topeka Shiner already in place.

There are no known populations within the proclamation boundary of the Mark Twain NF. Historically, they occurred in several streams on the Cedar Creek unit.

Reasons for decline are destruction, modification, or degradation of habitat resulting from siltation, reduced water quality, stream impoundment or channelization, dewatering, (removal of water from an enclosed area), and the introduction of predaceous fish.

While there are no current occurrences of Topeka shiner on the Forest, potential habitat is provided by maintaining good water quality in streams that run through the Mark Twain National Forest, and conducting all forest and rangeland management activities to minimize soil erosion or sedimentation of streams.

 

Amphibians

Ozark Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi)

Photo by Michael Cravens ©

Ozark Hellbender is found only in Missouri and Arkansas. Preferred habitat is large, fairly clear gravelly beds with rocks and logs. These salamanders are candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

They can live up to thirty years and can reach up to 2.5 feet long, though 2 feet in length is average. The Ozark hellbender usually weighs around 4-5 pounds. These nocturnal animals mainly eat crayfish and insects.

From 1991 to 1998 there was an 80% decrease in the population levels. There is also an Eastern hellbender subspecies in the U.S. and its population is slightly more stable than the Ozark hellbender, although both subspecies are declining at an alarming rate due to pollution, silt build up, dams, and being killed by people either accidentally or purposefully.

Ozark hellbenders occur in the Black River system and North Fork of the White River within the Mark Twain National Forest. The Mark Twain National Forest cooperates with the Missouri Department of Conservation to survey existing populations and potential habitat for this species.

The Forest is managed to provide healthy forest communities within the watersheds where Ozark and Eastern hellbenders occur, resulting in better water quality in adjoining streams and rivers.

Please watch out for hellbenders when gigging and avoid overturning rocks and logs in the water!!!

 

Plants

Mead’s milkweed (Asclepias meadii)

Photo by Michael Redmer ©

Mead’s milkweed is listed as a threatened species. There is only one known occurrence of Mead’s milkweed on the Mark Twain National Forest. This site is a large rhyolite glade within Bell Mountain Wilderness in Iron County, MO.

Glade habitats need fire to keep them open; Missouri Department of Natural Resources has found that Mead’s milkweed will disappear from glades if fire is not used on a regular basis. In wilderness areas this requires approval from the Chief of the Forest Service.

The Mark Twain National Forest has committed to completing the plans necessary to conduct prescribed burns on this site to reduce woody competition and rejuvenate the existing population of Mead’s milkweed in Bell Mountain Wilderness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum)

(USFWS photo)

Running buffalo clover is another endangered plant. It is a perennial, growing 4-20 inches tall, and flowers from mid-April through July. Scarification of the seed coat is necessary for germination. Historically, scarification would have occurred as the seeds passed through the digestive system of large and small herbivores, from bison and deer to rabbit. This was also important method of seed dispersal.

From 1992-1994, plants were established at eleven sites on the Cedar Creek, Rolla-Houston, Ava-Cassville, and Poplar Bluff districts of Mark Twain NF, mirroring the distribution of 4 known historical sites. These reintroductions were unsuccessful.

Potential habitat for running buffalo clover is provided on the Mark Twain National Forest where prescribed burns maintain open canopies or where light grazing occurs in grasslands.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Virginia Sneezeweed (Helenium virginicum)

Virginia Sneezeweed is a perennial plant known to occur in only Virginia and Missouri. It is listed as threatened. Stems grow to a height of 1.5 to 3.5 feet above a rosette of basal leaves. The flower ray petals are yellow, and wedge-shaped with three lobes at the ends. The central disk of the flower is nearly ball shaped. Flowering occurs from July to October.

Ponds supporting this species range in size from less than 0.1 to 8 acres and are seasonally flooded or semi-permanent bodies of water. These ponds have poorly drained, acidic, silty loam soils, and are typically flooded from January through July. Other habitats include wet meadows and road ditches.

There are no known populations of Virginia sneezeweed on the Mark Twain National Forest, however, populations and potential habitat exist within the proclamation boundary. Wetlands on the Mark Twain National Forest have special measures designed to minimize disturbance and maintain the ecological integrity of the wetland system.