Smith River

Smith River Fisheries and Ecosystem Report

Chapter 2 -- Description of the Smith River watershed (continued)

Wildlife

The Smith River basin provides habitat for sensitive species including wolverine, marten, fisher, pileated woodpecker, bank swallow, marbled murrulet, and spotted owl. Large snags and down logs are important for many species including black bear, fisher, and pileated woodpecker. Elk are found in and near agricultural areas on the coastal plain and the high country (California Department of Fish and Game 1980).

Migrating and resident birds use the lower Smith River, the estuary, Lake Earl, Lake Talawa, and other wetlands. Important wetlands near the lower Smith River include Tillas Slough, Tryon Slough, Yontocket Slough, and marshes south of Yontocket Slough (Funderburk 1979). Osprey nesting occurs along the Smith River in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (California Department of Fish and Game 1980). A heron rookery was reported near the Smith River estuary. Shrub habitat is used by species such as brown-headed cowbirds, finches, and striped skunk.

There are five late seral reserves in the Smith River watershed which are divided into ten treatment areas. These reserves support numerous late successional species (Table 17 and 18). Sparse forests in the North Fork watershed prevent dispersal of old growth dependent species to the north.

Table 17. Late successional species of amphibians, birds, and mollusks known or suspected to occur in the Smith River watershed (McCain et al. 1995).
Scientific name	Common name	Known / Suspected
	Amphibians
Ambystoma gracile	northwestern salamander		S
Dicamptodon ensatus	Pacific giant salamander		K
Rhyacotriton variegatus	southern torrent salamander		K
Plethodon elongatus	Del Norte salamander		K
Aneides ferreus	clouded salamander		S
Aneides flavipunctatus	black salamander		S
Ascaphus truei	tailed frog		K
	Birds
Brachyramphus mamoratus	marbled murrulet		S
Strix occidentalis caurina	northern spotted owl		K
Accipiter gentilis	northern goshawk		K
Dryocopus pileatus	pileated woodpecker		K
Picoides villosis	hairy woodpecker		K
Sitta canadensis	red breasted nuthatch		K
Certhia familiaris	brown creeper		K
Empidonax difficilis	Pacific slope flycatcher		K
Chaetura vauxi	Vaux’s swift		K
	Mollusks
Juga chacei	Chace juga		K
Juga orickensis	redwood juga		K
Lanx alta	highcap lanx		K

Table 18. Late successional mammal species known or suspected to occur in the Smith River watershed (McCain et al. 1995).
Scientific name		Common name	Known / Suspected
Phenacomys longicaudus	red tree vole			S
Tamiasciurus douglasii	Douglas’ squirrel			K
Glaucomys sabrinus	northern flying squirrel			K
Myotis volans	long-legged myotis			S
Myotis keenii	Keen’s myotis			S
Myotis yumanensis	Yuma myotis			K
Myotis californicus	California myotis			S
Myotis evotis	long-eared bat			S
Plecotus townsendii townsendii	Townsend’s big eared bat			S
Eptesicus fuscus	big brown bat			K
Lasionycterus noctivagans	silver-haired bat			K
Lasiurus cinereus	hoary bat			K
Martes americana	American marten			S
Martes pennanti pacifica	Pacific fisher			K
Gulo gulo	wolverine			S

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