A natural resource condition assessment for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

National Park Service, Sydoriak C, Panek JA, Battles JJ, Nydick KR. A natural resource condition assessment for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI) are conjoined units within the Southern Sierra Nevada Ecoregion (SSNE) which is at the southern end of a four-hundred-mile-long mountain range that forms the eastern edge of the California biological and cultural province. The SSNE is relatively intact since the headwaters and middle watersheds are almost entirely administered for public benefits. The region is important to the well-being of the nation, not only for its abundant recreational opportunities, but as a critical source of water for California’s agriculture, energy production, and domestic water needs. The combined acreage of the parks is 865,964 acres, 97 percent of which is designated wilderness — the core of the largest contiguous wilderness area in California. In addition to National Park status, the parks are a unit of the International Man and the Biosphere Program. The SEKI Natural Resources Condition Assessment (NRCA) provides a baseline for determining what needs to change and why relative to 22 focal natural resources and common anthropogenic agents of change (stressors). The main report, designed for non-specialists, is supported by more than 20 technical reports which collectively make up the 2,600+ page NRCA. The parks’ have yet to compare reported conditions to desired conditions, so we are unwilling to conclude that the relative condition findings reported in this NRCA are “good or bad.” However, natural resource conditions in the Kaweah River Basin appear to be in relatively worse condition than in the Kings and Kern River Basins. The Kaweah Basin watersheds were found to have both more “intermediate” and “worse” focal resource relative condition scores, and relatively greater exposure to human-caused stressors than the other river basins. Based on the habitat types found there, the Kaweah River Basin also appears to harbor greater than expected bird, herpetofauna, mammal, and plant diversity relative to other areas of the parks, contains the most giant sequoia groves and the largest individual trees, and hosts the most recorded caves and karst features. The combination of high levels of expected biodiversity and relatively high exposure to anthropogenic stressors indicates that the Kaweah River Basin currently warrants the greatest degree of management concern. To maximize the NRCA’s utility we used an approach that should enable managers to triage natural resource management concerns and to act based on the probability of successful intervention given highly uncertain future conditions, potential public controversy, and significantly reduced funding or expertise. This discussion will advance when the parks have identified a range of achievable, realistic, and time and space appropriate desired future conditions. The conversation will be framed and a decision-making process outlined in the parks’ Resources Stewardship Strategy (RSS) which we plan to complete by January 2015.

Type
Project
Authors
National Park Service; Sydoriak, Charisse; Panek, Jeanne; Battles, John; Nydick, Koren
Date of Issue
2013-06
Units
NRSS , SEKI
Keywords
agents of change (stressors), Air Quality, alpine environments, altered fire regimes, animals of conservation concern, Bats, Biodiversity, Birds, cave invertebrates, Climatic Change, erosion and mass wasting, five-needle pine, focal natural resources, foothills vegetation, giant sequoias, Glaciers, intact forests, landscape context, landscape fragmentation, Meadows, native and non-native vertebrate species, Non-Native Plants, NRCA, plants of conservation concern, SEKI, Soils, Southern Sierra Nevada Ecoregion, Water Quality, Water Quantity
Subjects
Ecological Framework: Air and Climate | Air Quality | Ozone , Ecological Framework: Air and Climate | Air Quality | Air Contaminants , Ecological Framework: Air and Climate | Weather and Climate | Weather and Climate , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Glacial Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Hillslope Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Stream/River Channel Characteristics , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Cave/Karst Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Soil Quality | Soil Function and Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Water | Hydrology | Surface Water Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Water Chemistry , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Nutrient Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Toxics , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic plants , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic animals , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Cave Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Grassland/Herbaceous Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Fishes , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Amphibians and Reptiles , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Birds , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Mammals , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | At-risk Biota | T&E Species and Communities , Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Fire and Fuel Dynamics | Fire and Fuel Dynamics

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