Monitoring vegetation trends on the Mentasta caribou range, Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve
Jenkins KJ, Cook MB, Happe PJ, Christensen LC. 1997. Monitoring vegetation trends on the Mentasta caribou range, Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve. Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve (WRST) Research and Resource Management. WRST 97-1. United State Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Copper Center, AK
We compared cover and height of vegetation inside and outside 5 ungulate exclosures on the Mentasta caribou range in 1993 to evaluate range conditions and trends following 11 years of ungulate exclusion. We hypothesized that composition and structure of vegetation would not differ between inside and outside the exclosures (i.e., null hypothesis), unless differences in grazing and trampling pressures influenced vegetation successional patterns between protected and unprotected plots (i.e., alternative hypothesis). We also reviewed the range monitoring protocol established in 1982, report modifications made in 1993, and provide recommendations for future monitoring.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Jenkins, K; Cook, M; Happe, P; Christensen, L
- Date of Issue
- 1997
- Publisher
- United State Department of the Interior, National Park Service
- Units
- WRST
- Keywords
- Animal Studies, Caribou, Chelle Lake, Drop Creek, Exclosures, Grazing, IAR, Klawasi River, Lichen, Management, Mentasa, Mentasta, Mentasta herd, Monitoring, monitoring protocol, Nabesna, Nelchina herd, nonvascular plants, Plant Studies, Range, Sanford River, Trampling, Trend, Ungulate, Vascular Plants, Vegetation, Vegetation Management, Vegetation Structure, Windy Ridge, Wrangell-St. Elias, WRST