Forest structure and fuel loads at Jewel Cave National Monument: 2011 status report
Ashton IW, Prowatzke M, Bynum MR, Shepherd T, Wilson SK, Paintner-Green K, Swanson D. 2012. Forest structure and fuel loads at Jewel Cave National Monument: 2011 status report. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/NGPN/NRTR—2012/586. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program surveyed 60 forested plots in Jewel Cave National Monument (JECA) in 2011. This effort will be repeated in 2016 and every 5 years thereafter to better understand status and trends in forest vegetation. We measured tree stem density, tree diameter, live and dead tree condition, fire fuel loads, cover of exotic species, and disturbance in all plots. By using a randomized survey approach, we are able to use these data to estimate the status of the forest, not just of the plots, from the park as a whole. In this report, we provide a summary of our results from sampling in 2011. We found the following: • Ponderosa pine was the only species to occur in all plots. Western serviceberry and chokecherry seedlings were common and occurred in many of the plots. Besides ponderosa pine, the most common mature tree species we encountered was Rocky Mountain juniper. • In 2011, forest basal area averaged 7.5 m2 per hectare, but was spatially variable. Areas that experienced high severity burning in the 2000 Jasper fire had much lower basal areas than unburned areas. Less than 5% of the park area had basal areas that are considered high enough to have an increased risk of mountain pine beetle infestation. • In 2011, we found no plots in the park that had evidence of mountain pine beetles. However, there are mountain pine beetles in the park and JECA has been actively cutting damaged trees. All the plots visited had some evidence of historic fires, but severity differed. Fire severity was correlated with increased total fuel loads and lower basal areas, but there was no relationship between seedling density or exotic cover and severity. • Exotic species were present in low abundance in JECA. The cover class of targeted exotics averaged less than 2 individuals in the plots we visited. The most common exotic species was Canada thistle.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Ashton, Isabel; Prowatzke, Michael; Bynum, Michael; Shepherd, Tim; Wilson, Stephen; Paintner-Green, Kara; Swanson, Dan
- Date of Issue
- 2012-06
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- JECA , NGPN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Black Hills, Grasslands, monitoring report, plant community monitor, Plant community monitoring, Plant diversity, Ponderosa Pine, Vegetation