Aquatic vegetation monitoring in springs at Ozark National Scenic Riverways, 2007-2015
Bowles DE and Dodd HR. 2016. Aquatic vegetation monitoring in springs at Ozark National Scenic Riverways, 2007-2015. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/OZAR/NRDS—2016/1044. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
We studied the aquatic vegetation communities of seven large springs located at Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Missouri from 2007–2015. Our data provides a baseline for assessing the impacts of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on the ecological integrity of springs. Vegetation was assessed quantitatively along sample cells located on multiple transects in each spring. The springs contain 69 distinct taxa, collectively. Substantial overlap of species occurred among springs, including 6 families, 6 genera and 6 species of algae, and 9 families, 12 genera and 19 species of mosses and liverworts. Among angiosperms, we report 10 families, 13 genera, and 20 species of monocots, and 16 families, 23 genera and 24 species of dicots. Alley Spring had the most diverse plant community while Welch and Phillips springs had the lowest diversity. Individual sample cells typically contained four to six taxa, although Welch and Phillips Spring generally had no more than three taxa represented on average. Alley spring had the highest taxa richness (mean=5.38 taxa). Effective numbers of species were generally consistent among years for all springs. Among all the springs, taxa did not occur in equal abundance in the respective communities. Exotic species are not major contributors to the vegetation communities of the seven springs assessed in this study.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Bowles, David; Dodd, Hope
- Date of Issue
- 2016-08
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- HTLN , NRSS , OZAR
- Keywords
- HTLN Spring Communities Monitoring