Pea Ridge National Military Park natural resource condition assessment

Annis, Gust; Debacker, Michael; Diamond, David; Elliott, Lee; Garringer, Aaron; Hanberry, Phillip; James, Kevin; Lee, Ronnie; Morey, Michael; Pursell, Dyanna

In accordance with National Park Service requirements, staff with the Missouri Resource Assessment Partnership and the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network conducted a natural resource condition assessment (NRCA) for Pea Ridge National Military Park (PERI). NRCA's are intended to provide a synthesized assessment of current conditions in the park. The NCRA for PERI builds on methods developed for a similar effort for Effigy Mounds National Monument. Basic elements of the methodology include (1) reliance on a framework of essential ecological attributes provided by the Environmental Protection agency, (2) development of a list of resource types, indicators, and attributes for assessment, and (3) application of assessments by reporting unit, including park wide, major terrestrial landscapes types, and major streams and tributaries. Current condition was assigned to indicators based on contemporary data and management targets were defined based on best available information, which ranged from quantitative sampling data to expert opinion. A logic model-based framework was created to evaluate each indicator for which both current data and a management target were available. The framework is hierarchical so that indicators within an attribute are evaluated as well as attributes within a resource type and/or reporting unit. A hierarchical framework allows for integrated analysis among different components of the resource types and reporting units that are found within the park. The logic-based framework was designed to address the validity of the statement “the current condition approximates the management target”. For each level in the hierarchy, an assessment score is provided that corresponds to the degree that the statement is valid. Areas dedicated primarily to natural resource management at PERI are largely wooded, and are on the hilly northern and central side of the park or at the far south fringes, including areas associated with lower Pratt Creek and Winton Spring Branch. These two streams appear to be in generally good condition, with fauna characteristic of Ozark headwaters streams. Natural resource conditions of oak-hickory woodlands are generally good except where well-defined eastern redcedar dominated old fields occur. Patch numbers are relatively high and patch size small, but these numbers are somewhat inflated due to interspersion of different community types, each of which may be of appropriate composition and structure. Prominent natural communities include typic oak-hickory woodlands, slope oak-hickory woodlands, and dry oak woodlands. These woodlands provide habitat for breeding birds that require mature forests, including Acadian Flycatchers and Yellow-throated Vireos, both species of continental concern. Few invasive and exotic plant species, aside from eastern redcedar, occur in this area. Areas of successional deciduous sparse woodland and shrubland may provide important local habitat diversity for breeding birds of continental concern such as Indigo Buntings and Eastern Towhees. The southern and central portions of the park are dedicated mainly to providing a representation of landscapes at the time of the battle for interpretive purposes. Large mowed grasslands meet patch number and size targets, but non-native and disturbance species are dominant across much of the area. Natural resource management options are limited, but grasslands on the eastern and northeastern side of the park that are not mowed during the breeding season do provide habitat for grassland obligate breeding birds, including Grasshopper Sparrows and Henslow's Sparrows.

Pea Ridge National Military Park natural resource condition assessment

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