Invasive exotic plant monitoring protocol narrative for Northern Colorado Plateau Network parks: version 1.02

Perkins DW, Edvarchuk K, Dewey S, Thomas H, Wight A. 2016. Invasive exotic plant monitoring protocol narrative for Northern Colorado Plateau Network parks: version 1.02. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NCPN/NRR—2016/1340. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado

The objectives of NCPN invasive exotic plant (IEP) monitoring are to: 1. Detect incipient populations and new introductions of invasive exotic plant species before they become established in areas of management significance, and 2. Determine status and trends of selected populations of invasive plants of management significance. NCPN monitoring of IEPs in parks follows three methodologies. First, IEPs are mapped along monitoring routes that follow invasive pathways. Transects, each with three quadrats, are placed every 500–1,000 meters along the monitoring routes to provide consistent interannual surveys of selected park areas that can assess long-term changes in IEP distributions and densities. Monitoring routes are surveyed every 3–5 years, depending on the number of routes to be monitored and the extent of infestations. Second, extra-area searches are conducted in locations of likely invasion that lie beyond the distribution of the monitoring routes. Third, the NCPN has developed a “monitoring lite” version of the monitoring routes. The “lite” methods are a simpler version of the formal route surveys, without the transects and with fewer target species. They are designed to be performed by park employees or volunteers able to identify a few IEP species. This sampling protocol consists of this protocol narrative and the following standard operating procedures (SOPs), available at https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2236957: SOP 1: Field Work Preparation SOP 2: Training Observers SOP 3: Monitoring Route Methods SOP 4: Extra Area Search Methods SOP 5: Monitoring Lite SOP 6: Using Global Positioning System (GPS) Units SOP 7: Data Management SOP 8: Data Analysis and Reporting SOP 9: Developing a Priority Invasive Exotic Plant List SOP 10: Revising the Protocol Narrative and SOPs

Type
Published Report
Authors
Perkins, Dustin; Edvarchuk, Kim; Dewey, Steve; Thomas, Helen; Wight, Aneth
Date of Issue
2016-11
Publisher
National Park Service
Units
BLCA , CARE , COLM , CURE , DINO , FOBU , GOSP , NCPN , NRSS , ZION
Keywords
invasive exotic plants, monitoring, plant studies
Subjects
Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic plants

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