Integrated upland monitoring in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area: annual report 2010 (non-sensitive version)
Witwicki D. 2012. Integrated upland monitoring in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area: annual report 2010 (non-sensitive version). Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/NCPN/NRTR—2012/542.N. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The goal of the Northern Colorado Plateau Network (NCPN) integrated upland monitoring effort is to provide park managers with status and trend information on vegetation and soil attributes. This information is intended to determine natural variability of upland resources and provide early warning of resource degradation. This report summarizes NCPN upland monitoring in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (BLCA) and Curecanti National Recreation Area (CURE) during 2010. It outlines goals and objectives of NCPN upland monitoring, methods of the upland monitoring protocol, and procedures for defining and mapping target populations for monitoring. This report also describes the results of this year’s efforts and plans for future monitoring. Upland monitoring was initiated at BLCA and CURE in 2008. Based on discussions with park resource staff, sagebrush, pinyon-juniper, Gambel oak/mixed montane shrubs, and aspen were selected for monitoring. Sagebrush was additionally stratified by two dominant ecological sites and by grazing status for a total of four vegetation types monitored in sagebrush. Only four plots are monitored in aspen due to the small spatial extent of this vegetation type in BLCA and CURE. For all other vegetation types, seven or eight plots were monitored for three consecutive years to gain understanding of variability, with 2010 as the third year of pilot monitoring. Assessment of these data guided development of an operational sampling design initiated during the 2011 field season. In this report, measures were summarized for each vegetation type for 2010. Early monitoring data describe status of vegetation types, and interpretation is limited until additional data are acquired and more rigorously analyzed. A power analysis of the first three years of monitoring data was conducted and is summarized in a separate report.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Witwicki, Dana
- Date of Issue
- 2012-02
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BLCA , CURE , NCPN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Monitoring, NCPN Uplands Monitoring, Plant Studies, Upland, Uplands