Terrestrial vegetation monitoring protocol for the Mediterranean Coast Network—Cabrillo National Monument, Channel Islands National Park, and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area: Narrative, Version 1.0
Tiszler J, Rodriguez D, Lombardo K, Sagar T, Aguilar L, Lee L, Handley T, McEachern K, Harrod Starcevich LA, Witter M, Philippi T, Ostermann-Kelm S. 2016. Terrestrial vegetation monitoring protocol for the Mediterranean Coast Network—Cabrillo National Monument, Channel Islands National Park, and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area: Narrative, Version 1.0. Natural Resource Report. NPS/MEDN/NRR—2016/1296. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Mediterranean Coast Network (MEDN) parks protect and conserve important elements of the unique and highly threatened flora of southern California. The shrub-dominated vegetation of these parks is defined by and in turn defines ecosystem processes that support a large number of rare and endemic plant and animal species. Vegetation diversity within the MEDN is threatened by past and present activities associated with intensive human development, including land loss to housing, land conversion to agriculture, changing fire regimes, introduction of exotic species, and intensive recreational use. We expect that climate change will exacerbate these threats. A vegetation monitoring program is a necessary element in protecting against multiple, interacting, and potentially unknown drivers of vegetation change. We will monitor compositional and structural elements of vegetation that can be used to identify and document change and to study the processes by which change occurs. These elements include species cover, shrub and tree species density, species richness, and soil cover type. The target population is all terrestrial vegetation occurring in the MEDN parks. Permanent plots will be selected using a random, spatially balanced design that represents plant communities and environmental covariates in proportion to their areal occurrence. Channel Islands National Park will, in addition to employing new randomly selected plots, also continue monitoring existing index sites within major plant communities that were established under their monitoring program begun in 1984. Sites will be monitored using a serially alternating panel revisit design where plots are rested for 3-4 years between monitoring events. Annual status reports and periodic trend reports will be published.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Tiszler, John; Rodriguez, Dirk; Lombardo, Keith; Sagar, Tarja; Aguilar, Luis; Lee, Lena; Handley, Timothy; McEachern, Kathryn; Harrod Starcevich, Leigh; Witter, Marti; Philippi, Tom; Ostermann-Kelm, Stacey
- Date of Issue
- 2016-09-09
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- CABR , CHIS , MEDN , NRSS , SAMO
- Keywords
- Native Plant Community Protocol