Great Basin National Park aspen stand condition and health assessment
Horner MA, Hamilton BT, Provencher L. 2014. Great Basin National Park aspen stand condition and health assessment. Natural Resource Report. NPS/GRBA/NRR—2014/782. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
Aspen stand condition and health assessment to inform managers about status of park aspen stands and make recommendations for restoration. Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is the most widely distributed tree species in North America and is regarded as a keystone species because it supports a high diversity of flora and fauna. Aspen are declining throughout the West, including within Great Basin National Park, where aspen stands have already experienced significant declines. To better understand the status of park aspen stands, the park partnered with The Nature Conservancy to perform Landscape Conservation ForecastingTM to determine current vegetation condition and develop management strategies for restoration. Aspen systems represent the largest vegetation type in Great Basin National Park (19,997 acres or 27.3% of park lands) and are represented by three biophysical settings: stable aspen woodland, seral aspen, and seral subalpine aspen. The ecological condition of park aspen varies: stable aspen stands are 27% departed from their natural range of variation, seral aspen are 66% departed, and seral subalpine aspen stands are 60% departed. The current condition of aspen is a direct result of fire exclusion and has resulted in an overabundance of late succession classes; poor aspen regeneration and recruitment; and a loss of aspen clones on 1,229 acres.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Horner, Margaret; Hamilton, Bryan; Provencher, Louis
- Date of Issue
- 2014-03
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GRBA , MOJN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Aspen, Baker Creek, Big Springs Wash, biophysical setting, Burnt Mill Creek, Can Young Canyon, Condition, conversion, Decathon Canyon, Dry Canyon, ecological departure, fire exclusion, Fire Regime Condition Class, FRCC, GRBA, Great Basin National Park, Hub Basin, LANDFIRE, Landscape conservation forecasting, Lehman Creek, Lexington Canyon, Lincoln Canyon, Management, Mill Creek, natural range of variation, North Fork of Big Wash, Pine and Ridge Creek, Populus tremuloides, Prescribed Fire, Quaking aspen, Recruitment, Regeneration, Restoration, seral, Shingle Creek, Snake Creek, South Fork of Big Wash, stand, Strawberry Creek, Subalpine, The Nature Conservancy, Vegetation, Williams Creek, Woodland, Young Canyon
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities