Forest structure in Muir Woods National Monument: Survey of the redwood canyon old-growth forest.
Steers RJ, Spaulding HL, Wrubel EC. 2014. Forest structure in Muir Woods National Monument: Survey of the redwood canyon old-growth forest.. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/SFAN/NRTR—2014/878. Fort Collins, Colorado
The purpose of this vegetation sampling effort was to refine methodologies that will be utilized to measure a number of forested vegetation types in the San Francisco Bay Area National Parks following the plant community vital sign monitoring protocol. The old-growth coastal redwood forest found in Redwood Canyon, Muir Woods National Monument was sampled in June of 2011. Woody plant density and basal area were collected in nine 0.10122 ha (0.25 acre) sample plots. The purpose of this vegetation sampling effort was to refine methodologies that will be utilized to measure a number of forested vegetation types in the San Francisco Bay Area National Parks following the plant community vital sign monitoring protocol. The secondary goal was to document woody plant structure in the Monument since limited information on forest structure exists here. Our vegetation sampling revealed that live tree density per hectare is 430 ± 31 individuals and dead tree density per hectare is 48 ± 12 individuals. Sequoia sempervirens was the most abundant tree species in terms of density and basal area. Notholithocarpus densiflorus exhibited the highest amount of tree mortality, which was due primarily to sudden oak death. Our analyses of different woody plant sampling methods revealed that trees <20 cm diameter at breast height did not need to be sampled in the entire plot but could be scaled-up from a subplot to accurately portray tree density and basal area metrics. Applying these results to future sampling efforts in forested vegetation types will greatly improve time efficiency and allow field crews to sample a higher number of plots.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Steers, Robert; Spaulding, Heather; Wrubel, Eric
- Date of Issue
- 2014-05
- Units
- MUWO , NRSS , SFAN
- Keywords
- Acer macrophyllum, Alnus rubra, Basal area, Coastal redwood, Density, Forest, Inventory, Methodology, Monitoring, Mt. Tamalpais, Muir Woods National Monument, Notholithocarpus densiflorus, Old-Growth, Plant Communities, Pseudotsuga menziesii, Redwood Canyon, Sampling, San Francisco Bay Area Network, sapling, Seedling, Sequoia sempervirens, Structure, Tree, Umbellularia californica, Vegetation
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Vegetation Complex