20170186 Ver 1_Division 7 LIBR TE Plant Memo (2)_20170214

MEMO
To:
Tim Jordan, PE — Mott MacDonald
From:
Robert Lepsic, PWS
Date:
June 30, 2016
Copies:
File
Arcadis Project No.:
NC612002
� /�RCJaD I S �esign & Consultancy
furnaturatand
built assets
Subject:
Division 7 LIBR Threatened and Endangered Plant Survey Results
Arcadis G&M of North Carolina, Inc.
801 Corporate Center Drive
Suite 300
Raleigh
North Carolina 27607
Tel [phone]
Fax [phone]
ARCADIS G&M of North Carolina, Inc.
NC Engineering License # C-1869
NC Surveying License # C-1869
On June 28, 2016, ARCADIS G&M of NC Inc. (ARCADIS) conducted surveys for federally listed
threatened and endangered plant species at 16 low impact bridge replacement sites in NCDOT Division 7.
The results of the survey are presented below.
Three plants are listed as potentially occurring within the counties the LIBR projects are located. Small
Whorled Pogonia (Isotria medeolodies) is listed for Guilford County. Michaux sumac (Rhus michauxii) and
Smooth Coneflower (Echinacea laevigata) are listed for Orange County. Smooth Coneflower is listed for
Rockingham County.
Small whorled pogonia occurs in young as well as maturing (second to third successional growth) mixed-
deciduous or mixed-deciduous/coniferous forests. It does not appear to exhibit strong affinities for a
particular aspect, soil type, or underlying geologic substrate. In North Carolina, the perennial orchid is
typically found in open, dry deciduous woods and is often associated with white pine and rhododendron.
The species may also be found on dry, rocky, wooded slopes; moist slopes; ravines lacking stream
channels; or slope bases near braided channels of vernal streams. The orchid, often limited by shade,
requires small light gaps or canopy breaks, and typically grows under canopies that are relatively open or
near features like logging roads or streams that create long-persisting breaks in the forest canopy.
Michaux's sumac, endemic to the inner Coastal Plain and lower Piedmont, grows in sandy or rocky, open,
upland woods on acidic or circumneutral, well-drained sands or sandy loam soils with low cation exchange
capacities. The species is also found on sandy or submesic loamy swales and depressions in the fall line
Sandhills region as well as in openings along the rim of Carolina bays; maintained railroad, roadside,
power line, and utility rights-of-way; areas where forest canopies have been opened up by blowdowns
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MEMO
and/or storm damage; small wildlife food plots; abandoned building sites; under sparse to moderately
dense pine or pine/hardwood canopies; and in and along edges of other artificially maintained clearings
undergoing natural succession. In the central Piedmont, it occurs on clayey soils derived from mafic rocks.
The plant is shade intolerant and, therefore, grows best where disturbance (e.g., mowing, clearing,
grazing, periodic fire) maintains its open habitat.
Smooth coneflower, a perennial herb, is typically found in meadows, open woodlands, the ecotonal
regions between meadows and woodlands, cedar barrens, dry limestone bluffs, clear cuts, and roadside
and utility rights-of-way. In North Carolina, the species normally grows in magnesium- and calcium- rich
soils associated with gabbro and diabase parent material, and typically occurs in Iredell, Misenheimer, and
Picture soil series. It grows best where there is abundant sunlight, little competition in the herbaceous
layer, and periodic disturbances (e.g., regular fire regime, well-timed mowing, careful clearing) that
prevents encroachment of shade-producing woody shrubs and trees. On sites where woody succession is
held in check, it is characterized by a number of species with prairie affinities.
Habitat is present at each bridge for the species listed for that County. Pedestrian surveys were
conducted within the habitat for each species and each bridges. No individual plants were identified.
Habitat Present
Project # County and plant Species within Study �dentified within
Bridge # Area Study Area
Small Whorled
17BP.7.R.89 Guilford, 108 Pogonia (Isotria Yes No
medeolodies)
Small Whorled
17BP.7.R.90 Guilford, 210 Pogonia (Isotria Yes No
medeolodies)
Small Whorled
17BP.7.R.91 Guilford, 270 Pogonia (Isotria Yes No
medeolodies)
Small Whorled
17BP.7.R.92 Guilford, 382 Pogonia (Isotria Yes No
medeolodies)
Michaux sumac (Rhus
michauxii) and
17BP.7.R.93 Orange, 18 Smooth Coneflower Yes No
(Echinacea laevigata)
Michaux sumac (Rhus
17BP.7.R.94 Orange, 51 michauxii) and
Smooth Coneflower Yes No
(Echinacea laevigata)
Michaux sumac (Rhus
michauxii) and
17BP.7.R.95 Orange, 84 Smooth Coneflower Yes No
(Echinacea laevigata)
17BP.7.R.96 Orange, 104 Michaux sumac (Rhus
michauxii) and Yes No
arcadis.com
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MEMO
Smooth Coneflower
(Echinacea laevigata)
Michaux sumac (Rhus
17BP.7.R.97 Orange, 137 michauxii) and Yes No
Smooth Coneflower
(Echinacea laevigata)
Michaux sumac (Rhus
17BP.7.R.98 Orange, 189 michauxii) and Yes No
Smooth Coneflower
(Echinacea laevigata)
Michaux sumac (Rhus
17BP.7.R.99 Orange, 209 michauxii) and Yes No
Smooth Coneflower
(Echinacea laevigata)
17BP.7.R.100 Rockingham, 7 Smooth Coneflower
(Echinacea laevigata) Yes No
176P.7.R.101 Rockingham, 39 Smooth Coneflower Yes No
(Echinacea laevigata)
17BP.7.R.102 Rockingham, 171 Smooth Coneflower Yes No
(Echinacea laevigata)
17BP.7.R.103 Rockingham, 248 Smooth Coneflower
(Echinacea laevigata) Yes No
17BP.7.R.104 Rockingham, 283 Smooth Coneflower
(Echinacea laevigata) Yes No
Please feel free to contact me if you have any question.
arcadis.com
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