Long Term Monitoring of Woodlot Plant Communities at Gettysburg National Military Park
Bowersox TW, Larrick DS, Niewinski AT, Storm GL, Tzilkowski WM. 2004. Long Term Monitoring of Woodlot Plant Communities at Gettysburg National Military Park. Natural Resource Technical Report: Northeast Region. Technical Report NPS/NERCHAL/NRTR-04/092. National Park Service, Northeast Region. Philadelphia, PA
Long-term vegetation monitoring at Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP) is being conducted in the following three types of plots: Demonstration, Long Term Monitoring, and Canopy Treatment plots. Vegetation monitoring was started in 1986 with un-replicated Demonstration plots in six woodlots (Biesecker, Bushman Hill, Cobean, Pitzer, Slyder, and Spangler). From 1990 to 1992, the Long Term Monitoring plots were established in six woodlots (Biesecker, Bushman Hill, Herr Ridge, Pitzer, Powers Hill, and Spangler) to determine the status of woodlot plant communities with closed canopies and the effects of white-tailed deer foraging on understory vegetation. A set of Canopy Treatment plots was installed in 1992 to measure understory responses to creating openings in the canopy of three woodlots (Bushman Hill, Herr Ridge, and Powers Hill). The 1986-87 to 1994 data from Demonstration plots, the 1990-92 data from Long Term Monitoring plots, and the 1992 data from Canopy Treatment plots served as the baseline for long term monitoring of changes in woody and herbaceous vegetation. This report (1) describes the status of woodlot plant communities in the Demonstration and Long Term Monitoring plots in 1996, and in the Canopy Treatment plots from 1994-1996, and (2) assesses the effects of various sized openings in the overstory canopy and foraging by white-tailed deer on understory vegetation prior to the park’s Deer Management Program in 1995.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Bowersox, T.; Larrick, D.; Niewinski, A.; Storm, G.; Tzilkowski, W.
- Date of Issue
- 2004-03
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Northeast Region
- Units
- GETT , MIDN
- Keywords
- Gettysburg National Military Park, Long-Term Monitoring, Plants, Vegetation Monitoring, White-Tailed Deer, Woodlot