Caribou National Forest
Southeastern Idaho - U.S. Forest Service


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You are a biology teacher at McCammon, Idaho.  You have decided to take your students on a field trip to the Mink Creek area to look for amphibians and reptiles.  First, compile a list of the species that are known to occur within Caribou National Forest.  Although this list will provide you with a good guess as to what species you might find, figure that some species may not occur because their habitat is not in the Mink Creek area  You were able to obtain the following list of habitat available in the Mink Creek area.  Create a table with the habitat down the right hand side of the table and the species from your list across the top of the table.  Using the Digital Atlas of Idaho's Wildlife, put check marks on the type of habitat that each species may be found in.  Which of the species could you possibly see and which species will not likely be found in the Mink Creek area?

Cover Types of the Mink Creek Drainage

 Cover Type Description
Grassland
Areas dominated by grasses
Mesic (Wet) Shrubland
These are upland shrubs that are naturally occurring or initiated by fire or clearcutting and are found in moist areas.   Principal Species: Alder, Serviceberry, Oregon Grape, Snowberry, Ceanothus, ninebark, chokecherry, rose, currant, willow, elderberry, spiraea
Xeric (Dry) Shrubland
These are upland species that are naturally occurring and found in dry areas.  Principal Species:  Mountain Mahogany, Bitterbrush, Mountain Big Sagebrush, Low Sagebrush
Aspen
Areas dominated by Aspen
Needleleaf Forest
Forested areas dominated by Subalpine Fir, Douglas Fir, Lodgepole Pine, Utah Juniper
Needleleaf Riparian
Forested areas dominated by Douglas-fir, Western Red Cedar, Englemann Spruce, Subalpine fir, Maple, Lodgepole Pine, Aspen, Cottonwood
Shrub Riparian
Shurb areas along streams that are dominated by Twinberry, Utah Honeysuckle, Black Hawthorne, Red-osier dogwood, Sitka Alder, Rose, Currant, thimbleberry, buffaloberry, maple, chokecherry

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