Camas monitoring at Big Hole National Battlefield: 2015 annual report
Stucki DS and Rodhouse TJ. 2017. Camas monitoring at Big Hole National Battlefield: 2015 annual report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/UCBN/NRDS—2017/1077. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
As part of the Upper Columbia Basin Network’s long-term vital signs monitoring, we completed monitoring of camas lily (Camassia quamash (Pursh) Greene) in 2015 in Big Hole National Battlefield (BIHO). This is the tenth year of camas monitoring in BIHO. In 2015, based on counts of camas in one-hundred-fifty-one 0.6 m2 quadrats, mean density of established camas plants/m2 was estimated to be 1.4 (90% confidence interval 0.9-2.1). This was considerably lower than the 2014 estimate of 3.4 plants/ m2 and represents the lowest estimated density since monitoring began at BIHO in 2006. Estimated mean density of flowering camas plants/m2 was 0.6 (90% confidence interval 0.3-0.9), also down from 2014. Canada thistle was found in 8 plots (~5% frequency of occurrence) in 2015. Canada thistle was found in 3 plots in 2013 and was not found in any plots in 2014. Weather patterns in the Big Hole Valley have been warmer and drier than average. Monthly average temperatures during the 2015 water year were mostly above average, especially during the winter and spring months. Monthly average precipitation totals were more variable with a wetter than average fall and a drier than average winter and spring. It is unclear what has led to the decline in camas density. A further trend analysis investigating these declines in camas density, as well as accounting for the effects of average monthly temperature and precipitation on camas populations and flowering rates, will be available in 2017.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Stucki, Devin; Rodhouse, Thomas
- Date of Issue
- 2017-01
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BIHO , NRSS , UCBN
- Keywords
- Big Hole, Camas Monitoring, Camassia quamash