Integrated upland protocol of the Mojave Desert Network: Volume 2, standard operating procedures
Pan JJ, Craig D, Robinson D, Soukup DA, Harrod Starcevich L, Tallent N, Truitt R. 2015. Integrated upland protocol of the Mojave Desert Network: Volume 2, standard operating procedures. Natural Resource Report. NPS/MOJN/NRR—2015/1010.1. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The mission of the National Park Service is “to conserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment of this and future generations”. To uphold this goal, the Director of the NPS approved the Natural Resource Challenge to encourage national parks to focus on the preservation of the nation’s natural heritage through science, natural resource inventories, and expanded resource monitoring. Through the Natural Resources Challenge, NPS implemented the “Vital Signs Monitoring Program,” a long-term ecological monitoring program that will provide rigorous, scientifically-based information on the status and trends of park ecosystems. With data from this program, park managers will be better able to evaluate complex and challenging resource issues and make sound decisions that result in long-term protection of park ecosystems. Information on park resource conditions will also be useful for research, education, and public awareness. In 2000, 270 NPS units with substantial natural resources were organized into 32 inventory and monitoring (I&M) networks based on ecological similarity and geographic proximity as part of the Natural Resources Challenge. The Mojave Desert Network (MOJN) I&M was one of the networks created and includes seven NPS units in California, Nevada, and Arizona. MOJN is comprised of: Death Valley National Park, Great Basin National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Manzanar National Historic Site, Mojave National Preserve, and Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. Collectively, these units encompass over 3.3 million hectares, or 9.7%, of the total land area managed by NPS, making MOJN the largest network in terms of area in the lower 48 states. One of the monitoring protocols for MOJN I&M is the Integrated Upland protocol, which focuses on upland shrub communities and integrates vegetation, soils, and invasive species status and trend (S&T) monitoring. This document describes the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the MOJN I&M Integrated Upland protocol; that is, the steps required to collect, manage, and disseminate the data representing the status and trend of upland communities in MOJN parks. The document is intended to be a “living” document that evolves as new information emerges and methodologies are refined. Changes to the SOPs are carefully documented in a revision history log. We anticipate that most changes to this document will occur during the first few cycles of monitoring, when the logistics of field monitoring (e.g., travel time between sites, time needed for on the ground monitoring) is a primary focus.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Pan, Jean; Craig, Donovan; Robinson, Dana; Soukup, Deborah; Harrod Starcevich, Leigh Ann; Tallent, Nita; Truitt, Robert
- Date of Issue
- 2015-08
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- DEVA , GRBA , JOTR , LAKE , MANZ , MOJA , MOJN , NRSS , PARA
- Keywords
- biological crust, canopy gap, Communities, Data Management, field form, Field work, integrated, Integrated Upland Protocol, Invasive Plant, Joshua Tree, macroplot, Monitoring, reporting, shrubland, Soils, sop, species frequency, standard operating procedure, Training, Upland, Upland Protocol, Vegetation
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Desert Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Shrubland Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Vegetation Complex