Natural resource condition assessment: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, Virginia

Schneider, Rebecca; Dorr, Jessica; Teets, Aaron; Wolf, Eric; Galbraith, J.

The goal of this assessment is to provide an overview of natural resource condition status to allow Appomattox Court House National Historical Park (NHP) to effectively manage National Park Service (NPS) trust resources through Resource Stewardship Strategies (RSS) and General Management Plans. An ancillary benefit is that it will aid the park in meeting government reporting requirements, such as the land health goals under the Government Performance Results Act (GPRA). This assessment is based on existing data and information from natural resource managers at Appomattox Court House NHP and the Mid-Atlantic Network. A natural resource assessment should provide a concise, understandable, and accurate summary of the condition of the ecological system. Reporting on this ecological condition will provide for better decision-making at the park level; thus, collaborating with decision-makers was an important part of this project. The natural resources evaluated in this assessment were landscape dynamics, vegetation communities, wetland and riparian resources, biological integrity, water resources, and parkwide resources such as soils, air quality, visitor use, viewscape, and soundscape. Precise measurements and objective analysis are preferred for assessing the condition of natural resources. Wherever possible, we used quantitative data and established thresholds, but in some cases only qualitative measures were available to rate important categories. Rather than remove these categories all together, we simply reported on the type of data that was available and the methods used to compare these data to a desired condition. In all cases, straightforward tables, charts, maps, and geospatial data are provided to summarize findings. Based on available data, the majority of resources at Appomattox Court House NHP appear to be in good condition. One exception is the amount of exotic plant species detected at established forest monitoring plots. Water-quality data within the park is the most striking data gap. Data gaps also include soil chemistry and acidity, impact of visitor use on natural resources, and long-term faunal survey data. In-park threats and stressors include habitat degradation by exotic plant species and the high number of cattle that graze on the park with access to streams and riparian areas. Outside park stressors include agricultural runoff from crop fields and cattle and concerns regarding air quality—particularly atmospheric deposition.

Natural resource condition assessment: Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, Virginia

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