Northern Colorado Plateau Network Upland Vegetation and Soils Monitoring

Wight A, Livensperger C , Witwicki D, Thomas H, Miller ME, Weissinger R , Topp S, Garman SL. Northern Colorado Plateau Network Upland Vegetation and Soils Monitoring. 2006. National Park Service

Uplands represent the vast majority of land area in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network (NCPN), and include rock outcrops, badlands, shrublands, grasslands, woodlands, and forests. Upland vegetation provides energy to other trophic levels, habitat structure for various organisms, and is a significant component of species diversity. The ability of uplands to retain soil and nutrients, absorb and release water, and buffer high-runoff precipitation events is a major influence on riparian condition. Upland ecosystems are easily disturbed and slow to recover, yet several NCPN units contain relatively undisturbed examples of grasslands and shrublands. Historic land uses include livestock and timber production; more recently, recreational use has increased. To effectively manage uplands, the National Park Service needs to know the impacts of these uses. Integrated upland monitoring includes measuring soil stability, hydrologic function, biological soil crusts, and vegetation composition and cover. The NCPN uses a complex survey design to select randomized sampling plots that are visited in two consecutive years, followed by a relatively long interval between revisits (3–6 years). This design minimizes the chances that sensitive, arid-ecosystem plots will be damaged by repeated visits in successive years and is a cost-effective way to estimate the health of upland ecosystems across a large area. NCPN upland monitoring is intended to strike a balance between increasing fundamental understanding of these systems and providing managers with early warning of undesirable change.

Type

Project

Authors

Wight, Aneth; Livensperger, Carolyn; Witwicki, Dana; Thomas, Helen; Miller, Mark; Weissinger, Rebecca; Topp, Sarah; Garman, Steven

Publisher

National Park Service

Units

ARCH , BLCA , BRCA , CANY , CARE , CEBR , CURE , DINO , TICA , ZION

Keywords

basal area, biodiversity, biology, canopy closure, canopy cover, canopy gaps, climate change, Colorado Plateau, community composition, conservation, deserts, diameter at breast height, ecology, exotic plant frequency, forbs, forests, fuel loading, grasses, grasslands, habitats, herbs, human disturbance, invasive species, long term monitoring, monitoring, NCPN, plant communities, plant cover, plant density, plant height, plant species, plant species composition, plant studies, plants, populations, shrubs, soil stability, soil stability index, species abundance, species composition, species diversity, species lists, species richness, stand structure, transects, trees, understory vegetation, upland, uplands, vascular plants, vegetation

Subjects

Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Soil Quality | Soil Function and Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic plants , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Desert Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Grassland/Herbaceous Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Shrubland Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities

Program

• Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network (NCPN)

Products

• Upland Vegetation and Soils Monitoring for the Northern Colorado Plateau Network: 2009-2023 - Data Package
• Upland Vegetation and Soils Monitoring for the Northern Colorado Plateau Network: 2009-2023 - Processing Script
• Upland Vegetation and Soils Monitoring for the Northern Colorado Plateau Network: 2009-2023 - Raw Data
• Variance and power for trend assessment of pilot data, integrated upland monitoring, Canyonlands National Park
• Integrated upland monitoring in Capitol Reef National Park, annual report 2008
• Integrated upland monitoring in Canyonlands National Park, annual report 2008
• Integrated upland monitoring in Canyonlands National Park: annual report 2009 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Capitol Reef National Park: annual report 2009 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Cedar Breaks National Monument: annual report 2009 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Timpanogos Cave National Monument: annual report 2009 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area, 2008–2009 (non-sensitive version)
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitoring brief: integrated upland monitoring
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitoring brief: integrated upland monitoring
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitoring brief: integrated upland monitoring
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitoring brief: integrated upland monitoring
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitoring brief: integrated upland monitoring
• Integrated upland monitoring in Bryce Canyon National Park: annual report 2010 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Arches National Park: annual report 2010 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Timpanogos Cave National Monument: annual report 2010 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Dinosaur National Monument: annual report 2009–2010 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Capitol Reef National Park: annual report 2010 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Cedar Breaks National Monument: annual report 2010 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area: annual report 2010 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Canyonlands National Park: annual report 2010 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Zion National Park: annual report 2011 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Capitol Reef National Park: annual report 2011 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Bryce Canyon National Park: annual report 2011 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Arches National Park: annual report 2011 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Cedar Breaks National Monument: annual report 2011 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area: annual report 2011 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Canyonlands National Park: annual report 2011 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Dinosaur National Monument: annual report 2011 (non-sensitive version)
• Integrated upland monitoring in Timpanogos Cave National Monument: annual report 2011 (non-sensitive version)
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitoring brief: integrated upland monitoring
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitoring brief: integrated uplands monitoring
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network monitoring brief: integrated uplands monitoring
• Vegetation and soil trends, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area, 2011–2022 [Brief]
• Vegetation and Soil Trends, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area, 2011–2022
• What Ten Years of Vegetation and Soils Monitoring Reveals at Dinosaur National Monument
• Status and trend of upland vegetation and soils at Dinosaur National Monument, 2010–2020
• Bayesian Models for Analysis of Inventory and Monitoring Data with Non-ignorable Missingness
• Code from: Zachmann, L. J, E. Borgman, D. Witwicki, M. Swan, C. McIntyre and N. T. Hobbs (2021) Bayesian models for analysis of monitoring data with non-ignorable missingness. The Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics (JABES)
• Status and trends in upland vegetation and soils at Capitol Reef Nation-al Park, 2009–2018 (revised with cost estimate)
• Grassland Health on Grazed and Ungrazed Lands at Capitol Reef National Park, 2009–2018
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network upland vegetation and soils monitoring SOPs: 2019 field season
• Upland vegetation and soils monitoring protocol for park units in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network: version 1.07
• A closer look at when grasses need a drink: soils, precipitation, and desert grasses
• NCPN upland vegetation and soils monitoring protocol appendix A: survey design and site selection reports
• NCPN upland vegetation and soils monitoring protocol appendix B: variance and power for trend assessment reports
• Short-term forecasting of vegetation condition: potential management uses
• Distribution of exotic plant species and relationship to vegetation type at Bryce Canyon National Park, USA
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network information brief: connecting fire history and fire management at Colorado National Monument
• Ecological thresholds as a basis for defining management triggers for National Park Service vital signs—Case studies for dryland ecosystems
• Northern Colorado Plateau Network information brief: plant responses to climate change in the Northern Colorado Plateau Network
• Mapping ecological sites for long-term monitoring in national parks
• Field Evaluations of Sampling Methods for Long-Term Monitoring of Upland Ecosystems on the Colorado Plateau

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