Case Study: Monitoring park landscape dynamics through NPScape: Saguaro National Park
Monahan WB, Swann DE, Hubbard JA, Gross JE. 2012. Case Study: Monitoring park landscape dynamics through NPScape: Saguaro National Park. Park Science. 29(1):69–78
Changes in the composition and configuration of different land cover types within and adjacent to national parks can affect a multitude of biological and physical processes, including habitat availability, animal movements, potential for invasion by exotic plants, water quality, and in-stream habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms. Information about the status and trends of landscape-scale indicators in and around parks can help park staffs anticipate, interpret, plan for, and manage associated effects on park resources. NPScape is a landscape dynamics monitoring project that produces and delivers to parks a suite of landscape-scale data sets, maps, reports, and other products to inform resource management, planning, and interpretation at local, regional, and national scales. The target audience for NPScape spans the range from GIS specialists who will benefit from the geospatial data and tools, to network ecologists and park resource management specialists who will be interested in general landscape metrics presented in a local and regional context, to park superintendents who can incorporate the maps and graphics into reports or briefings. Here, we present an overview of NPScape and describe its uses at Saguaro National Park.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Monahan, William; Swann, Don; Hubbard, J.; Gross, John
- Units
- NRSS , SAGU
- Keywords
- conservation context, Conservation Status, GIS, Housing, human drivers, human population, Inventory And Monitoring, Land Cover, Landscape dynamics, Landscape Pattern, Natural systems, NPScape, Resource Management, Roads, Saguaro National Park, Saguaro NP