Camas monitoring at Big Hole National Battlefield: 2013 annual report
Rodhouse TJ and Stucki DS. 2013. Camas monitoring at Big Hole National Battlefield: 2013 annual report. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/UCBN/NRTR—2013/826. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This annual report details findings from 2013, and puts these findings within the context of the entire 8-year monitoring program. Based on the 2013 survey, overall trends in camas density continue to be stable or slightly increasing in BIHO. In 2013, based on counts of camas in one-hundred-fifty-one 0.6 m2 quadrats, mean density of established camas plants/m2 was estimated to be 6.1 (90% confidence interval 3.9-8.6). This was very similar to the 2012 estimate. Based on a regression modeling technique developed by Rodhouse et al. (2011), the trend in the median of established camas plant density over the 8-year period was 3% (95% CRI 0-5%), down slightly from the trend estimate in 2012. Estimated mean density of flowering camas plants/m2 was 1.3 (90% confidence interval 0.9-2.0), up slightly from 2012. Flowering plant density is more variable than overall established plant density. Unfortunately, Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), has notably increased in the meadow. In 2013, Canada thistle was found in 3 plots (~2% frequency of occurrence). This was the first year that this invasive species was encountered in plots, although observations outside of plots have been increasing in recent years. Weather patterns in the upper Big Hole Valley have been wetter than average, and this may be influencing the positive trends for camas as well as for Canada thistle.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Rodhouse, Thomas; Stucki, Devin
- Date of Issue
- 2013-11
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BIHO , NRSS , UCBN
- Keywords
- Camas Monitoring