Plant community composition and structure monitoring for Badlands National Park: 2016 data report

Rasor AT, Rockwood SL, Swanson DJ. 2017. Plant community composition and structure monitoring for Badlands National Park: 2016 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/NGPN/NRDS—2017/1087. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2016 at Badlands National Park (BADL) by the Northern Great Plains Network Inventory and Monitoring program (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Effects (NGPFire) program. During the sixth full year of field work, crew members from NGPN visited twenty long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots to collect data on the plant communities at BADL, and NGPFire crew visited two additional PCM plots plus ten fire plant community monitoring (FPCM) plots. This effort is part of a long-term monitoring program in order to better understand the condition of the sparsely vegetated badland, woody draw, and mixed-grass prairie regions in BADL. NGPN and NGPFire staff recorded 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 twenty-two plots. In plots where woody species were present, crews also measured tree regeneration, tall shrub and tree density, and woody fuel load. Our 2016 findings can be summarized as follows: Monitoring crews recorded 163 species across 32 monitoring plots visited in 2016 at BADL, of which 33 plant species were exotic. None of the exotics identified were on the target list for the early detection and rapid response program in the NGPN parks. No rare native species were documented. Trees, poles, and seedlings were only located at a single plot and woody fuel loads were recorded at two of the twenty-two plots. The most common disturbances observed were animal use and erosion.

Type
Published Report
Authors
Rasor, Aaron; Rockwood, Stephanie; Swanson, Daniel
Date of Issue
2017-02
Publisher
National Park Service
Units
BADL , NGPN , NRSS
Keywords
Forest, Grasslands, mixed-grass prairie, Monitoring, monitoring report, plant community monitor, Plant community monitoring, Plant diversity, Vegetation
Subjects
Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Grassland/Herbaceous Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities

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