Plant community composition and structure monitoring for Fort Laramie National Historic Site: 2016 data report
Manuel RM. 2016. Plant community composition and structure monitoring for Fort Laramie National Historic Site: 2016 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/NGPN/NRDS—2016/1075. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2016 at Fort Laramie National Historic Site (FOLA) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN). During the sixth full year of field work, crew members from NGPN visited six long-term monitoring plots to collect data on the plant communities at FOLA. This is part of a long-term monitoring effort to better understand the condition of the riparian and upland forests and prairie at FOLA. NGPN staff captured data relating to species richness, herb-layer height, abundance of individual native and non-native species, ground cover, and site disturbance on each of the six plots. In plots where woody species were present, tree regeneration, tall shrub and tree density, and woody fuel load were also measured. Our 2016 findings can be summarized as follows: The NGPN monitoring crew identified 98 plant species in six monitoring plots visited in 2016 at FOLA, of which 27 were exotic species. Generally, the three upland plots were more exotic and less diverse than the three plots in and around the riparian zone. Tree regeneration and woody fuel loads were observed at two of the six plots. The most common disturbances observed were flooding in the riparian zones and animal use.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Manuel, Ryan
- Date of Issue
- 2016-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- FOLA , NGPN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Grasslands, mixed-grass prairie, Monitoring, monitoring report, plant community monitor, Plant community monitoring, Plant diversity, Vegetation