Wilsons Creek National Battlefield natural resource condition assessment

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

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 Wilson's Creek National Battlefield (WICR). NRCA's are intended to provide a synthesized assessment of current conditions in the park. The NCRA for WICR 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. WICR terrestrial communities are mainly successional and disturbance grasslands, woodlands, and glades. Integrated evaluation of the assessment hierarchy illustrates those attributes for which the current condition approximates the management target for each terrestrial reporting unit. Glades may represent the most important terrestrial natural community within the park, and they harbor several populations of the Federal endangered Missouri bladderpod (Lesqurella filiformis). The largest stream, Wilson's Creek, is heavily impacted by urbanization and a waste water treatment plant in Springfield upstream in the watershed, and is listed as an impaired stream by the state Department of Natural Resources. Nonetheless, aquatic communities are generally in better condition based on analyses of indicators than terrestrial communities. Skegg's Branch, a tributary to Wilson's Creek, has headwaters just south and west of the city of Republic, but most of the watershed is not urbanized. A second tributary, Terrell Creek, also flows mainly through a rural landscape and much of the base flow originates from Double Spring located within park boundaries. The upstream threats influence the water quality, physical habitat, and flow regime of the stream resources which in turn impact the biota. Wilson’s Creek, though certainly the most threatened and degraded stream on the park, may benefit from having tributaries that are in better condition which can serve as refuges or re-colonization pools for fauna during times of reduced water quality.

Wilsons Creek National Battlefield natural resource condition assessment

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