Invasive plant management in Kenai Fjords National Park: 2015 summary report
Stover A and Kriedeman CL. 2015. Invasive plant management in Kenai Fjords National Park: 2015 summary report. Natural Resource Report. NPS/SWAN/NRR—2015/1096. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report describes the work performed by the Exotic Plant Management Team (EPMT) at Kenai Fjords National Park (KEFJ) during the 2015 field season. This marks the 12th season KEFJ has monitored and controlled invasive plants in accordance with the Alaska Exotic Plant Management Team protocol. The 2015 KEFJ EPMT conducted the majority of field work in the Exit Glacier area. We also performed control efforts at coastal visitor use areas in Nuka Bay, McCarty Fjord, Northwestern Fjord, Aialik Bay, and Resurrection Bay. The 2015 EPMT further monitored and controlled invasive plants at all KEFJ leased and owned properties in the town of Seward. We surveyed a total of 13.80 acres containing 3.97 acres of invasive plants, all of which were treated manually or chemically. EPMT staff chemically treated 3 areas in the park for the first time in 2015; common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) on the Herman Leirer Road, common dandelion at the Exit Glacier snowpack telemetry (SNOTEL) site, and smooth brome (Bromus inermis) on the north side of Herman Leirer Road. We treated a total of 9 invasive species in KEFJ and 15 outside park boundaries in 2015. EPMT staff identified hemp nettle (Galeopsis spp.), a new invasive species to Kenai Fjords, in the Shea parking lot. Invasive plant management at KEFJ is an ongoing effort to prevent introduction of new invasive species, reduce current infestations, and restore native plant communities.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Stover, Aaron; Kriedeman, Christina
- Date of Issue
- 2015-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- AKEPMT , KEFJ , SWAN
- Keywords
- Alaska, alsike clover, annual bluegrass, common chickweed, common dandelion, common plantain, common sheep sorrel, Common Timothy, Curly Dock, EMPT, exotic plant management team, foxtail barley, hemp nettle, Icelandic poppy, Invasive Plant, KEFJ, Kenai Fjords National Park, Kentucky Bluegrass, meadow foxtail, Mouse-ear Chickweed, narrowleaf hawksbeard, oxeye daisy, pineapple weed, Prostrate Knotweed, quackgrass, red clover, shepherd’s purse, Smooth Brome, tall buttercup, white clover, Yellow toadflax
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic plants