Integrated upland vegetation and soils monitoring for Wupatki National Monument: 2012–2014 summary report

DeCoster, Jim; Swan, Megan

The National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Program was designed to determine the status and monitor the conditions of park natural resources, providing park managers with a scientific foundation for making decisions and working with other agencies and the public to protect park ecosystems.. The Southern Colorado Plateau Network (SCPN) is monitoring vegetation and soils as overall indicators of upland ecosystem integrity (Thomas et al. 2006). In 2006, SCPN and park staff selected the Limy Upland and Sandstone Upland ecological sites for long-term monitoring of upland vegetation and soils at Wupatki National Monument (WUPA). An ecological site is a landscape division with characteristic soils, hydrology, plant communities, and disturbance regimes and responses. Its classification is based on soil survey data (Butler et al. 2003). These two ecological sites comprise a large area of the upland ecosystems at WUPA. They face numerous threats, including climate change and invasion by nonnative species. Between 2007 and 2010 we established and sampled 30 plots in the Limy Upland ecological site and 30 plots in the Sandstone Upland ecological site. In 2012 we implemented a panel design by resampling 20 of these plots in the Limy Upland ecological site. In 2012, however, fieldwork began on an updated soil map for WUPA, and new soil names and descriptions were approved in 2013. As a result, significant changes were made to the classification of ecological sites. After reviewing the new classification and following discussion with both NRCS and park staff, we revised our sampling frames to reflect the updated soil map and ecological site designations. Many established plots were decommissioned as they did not meet the criteria of the new classification, and new plots were established to align our sampling frames with the new classification. Plots formerly in the Limy Upland ecological site have been placed in the Volcanic Upland ecological site if they fit the criteria, or have been decommissioned. Similarly, plots that had been in the Sandstone Upland ecological site have been placed in the Loamy Upland ecological site, or have been decommissioned. In 2012, we sampled 17 plots in what had been the Limy Upland ecological site and in 2013, we sampled 21 plots in what had been the Sandstone Upland ecological site. In 2014 we sampled 19 plots in the newly developed sampling frame within the Volcanic Upland ecological site. In this report, we document monitoring activities during the 2012, 2013 and in the 2014 field seasons as we transitioned into our new panel design and our new sampling frame. We report these data in the context of the data collected between 2007 and 2010 in the first year of sampling for plots that were later incorporated into our panel design.

Integrated upland vegetation and soils monitoring for Wupatki National Monument: 2012–2014 summary report

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