Study Plan for the Inventory of Mammalian Species in National Park Units of the Northeast Region: Northeast Temperate Network and Select Historical Sites

O'Connell, Allan; Sauer, John; Nichols, James; Gilbert, Andrew

Phase I of the National Park Service (NPS) Inventory & Monitoring (I&M) program involves conducting inventories to document occurrence (presence/absence), and under certain circumstances, a variety of abundance categories for vertebrates and vascular plants (NPS 1999). Using existing verifiable data (e.g., voucher specimens) and field investigations, this effort will attempt to document 90% of the terrestrial mammal species expected to occur within park boundaries (NPS 1999). This information may be used to develop monitoring strategies for select species that will be conducted as part of a long-term monitoring program. The principal goal of the NP5 Inventory Program and this study plan is to document 90% of the extant mammal species found within park boundaries (Table 1). Based on a review of taxonomic and geographic references, 62 terrestrial mammal species, including bats, theoretically could occur in parks of the Northeast Temperate Network (God in 1977, Degraff and Rudis 1986, Whitaker and Hamilton 1998) and Sagamore Hill. This number does not include marine mammals or those species long extinct in the region (e.g., woodland caribou, mountain lion, see Appendix 2). Therefore, documenting 90% of the species in each park would require verification of a different number of species for each park (see Table 1). Secondary goals include documenting the distribution and abundance of species of special concern to each park, developing a better understanding of mammalian communities and interactions with the local environment, and how the mammal community has been affected by NP5 management activities. Compiling current information allows for a comparison to the historical record, thereby increasing our knowledge of how communities change, especially when subjected to management actions. This study plan describes an inventory of terrestrial mammal species and limited reconnaissance for bats expected to occur within 9 national park units of the Northeast Temperate Network (Johnson et al. 2000), one Coastal and Barrier Network park (Sagamore Hill NHS) and one non-I&M park (Martin van Buren NHS). This plan does not include an inventory of marine mammals. Some parks within the network have had research or inventories of mammals, but these efforts usually have been limited in scope, focusing on either individual species or issues of concern to the NPS.

Study Plan for the Inventory of Mammalian Species in National Park Units of the Northeast Region: Northeast Temperate Network and Select Historical Sites

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