Plant community composition and structure monitoring in the Northern Great Plains Network

Northern Great Plains Network. Plant community composition and structure monitoring in the Northern Great Plains Network. 2010. National Park Service

Consistent, well-planned monitoring of the status and trends of these parameters ideally would provide park managers with early warning of undesirable change, measure digression from or progress towards a desired state, and evaluate effectiveness of management programs. In addition, when combined with monitoring of environmental factors, wildlife species (Prairie Dogs and Land Birds vital signs, park ungulate monitoring), specific disturbances (Fire and Fuel Dynamics and Extreme Disturbances vital signs), and park management practices, it would increase the fundamental understanding of these ecosystems. No single monitoring protocol, or even a whole monitoring program, can do all these things thoroughly within the bounds of fiscal resources available. Thus, the monitoring strategy described in this protocol attempts to balance the immediate needs of managers for current information for evaluation and the need for insight into the changes occurring in plant communities over time. The broad goal of plant community composition and structure monitoring for most Northern Great Plains Network parks is to make park-wide inferences about the status and trends of the health of vegetation. However, plant community composition and structure monitoring in two parks in the Network, Missouri NRR and Niobrara NSR, will not have park-wide inference but will instead focus on limited areas because multiple ownership of the properties within their boundaries is not conducive to long-term, park-wide, land-based vegetation monitoring. Plant community monitoring in these parks will likely focus on specific management issues (e.g., birch or aspen at Niobrara NSR, prairie restoration at Missouri NRR).

Type
Project
Authors
Northern Great Plains Network
Publisher
National Park Service
Units
AGFO , BADL , DETO , FOLA , FOUS , JECA , KNRI , MNRR , MORU , NGPN , NIOB , SCBL , THRO , WICA
Keywords
Monitoring, Plant community monitoring, vegetaion
Subjects
Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Grassland/Herbaceous Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Vegetation Complex

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