Plant community composition and forest structure monitoring at Mount Rushmore National Memorial: 2016 data report
Davis M. 2017. Plant community composition and forest structure monitoring at Mount Rushmore National Memorial: 2016 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/NGPN/NRDS—2017/1103. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report presents the results of vegetation and forest structure monitoring efforts in 2016 at Mount Rushmore National Memorial (MORU) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Effects (NGPFire) program. During the seventh full year of field work at MORU, the NGPN field crew visited six long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots to collect plant community data. 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 collected data relating to tree regeneration, tall shrub and tree density, and woody fuel load. These collective efforts are part of long-term monitoring to help better understand the condition of the plant communities and forests at MORU. Our 2016 findings can be summarized as follows: Monitoring crews identified 76 vascular plant species in upland plots, of which 11 were exotic species. Average relative cover of exotic species ranged from 0% to 8%. No rare plants were observed. Seedlings and live trees (DBH >15 cm) were found in all 60 plots, and live poles (2.54 cm ≤ DBH ≤ 15 cm) were found in 34 plots. Disturbances were observed in all 60 plots, with tree removal (chipping, logging, and thinning) and fire (prescribed fire, pile burn, and wildfire) being the most common.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Davis, Molly
- Date of Issue
- 2017-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- MORU , 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