Plant community composition and structure at Jewel Cave National Monument: 2016 data report
Rockwood SL. 2017. Plant community composition and structure at Jewel Cave National Monument: 2016 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/NGPN/NRDS—2017/1100. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report presents the results of vegetation and forest structure monitoring efforts in 2016 at Jewel Cave National Monument (JECA) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Effects (NGPFire) program. During the sixth full year of field work, the NGPN field crew visited six long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots to collect data on the plant communities at JECA. Crews captured data relating to species richness, herb-layer height, native and non-native species abundance, ground cover, and site disturbance from each of these plots. Additionally, NGPN and NGPFire collaborated to visit an additional 54 plots, for a total of 60, to collect data relating to forest structure and health. In each of the 60 plots, crews also collected data relating to tree regeneration, tall shrub and tree density, and woody fuel load. The NGPFire crew collected additional data relating to herb-layer height, abundance of native and non-native species, ground cover, and target species data as part of their post-burn monitoring at three plots, two of which were included in the above-mentioned 60 plots. These collective efforts are part of long-term monitoring to help better understand the condition of the mixed-grass prairie and ponderosa pine woodlands within the boundaries of JECA. Our 2016 findings can be summarized as follows: Monitoring crews identified 128 plant species in 61 monitoring plots visited at JECA. Of these species, 18 were exotic species with an average relative cover of approximately 12%. There were no targeted early-detection exotic species and no rare native species observed in any plot. Tree density, health, seedling regeneration, and woody fuel loads were observed at 61 plots. Seedlings were observed in 50 plots, and mature trees and poles were observed in 56 plots. Disturbances were observed in 60 plots, with fire (wildland and prescribed) being the most common.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Rockwood, Stephanie
- Date of Issue
- 2017-04
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- JECA , 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