George Washington Carver National Monument plant community and fire ecology report: 2004–2016
Leis SA and Morrison LW. 2017. George Washington Carver National Monument plant community and fire ecology report: 2004–2016. Natural Resource Report. NPS/HTLN/NRR—2017/1458. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network completed five monitoring events in the restored prairie at George Washington Carver National Monument (NM) from 2004–2016. The prairie plant community at the park remained relatively stable through the monitoring period. The mean proportion of trees decreased and grass cover dominated the community with an abundance of forbs and other species. There was concern over the increasing abundance of sumac (Rhus spp), but increased fire return intervals and targeted herbicide application were effective at reducing sumac to very low levels. Park staff expressed concern over the increasing blackberry populations; however sites with blackberry have legacy populations. Non-native species continue to be present in low numbers – less than 7% mean cover. Site level factors (e.g., soil moisture) contributed to a distinctly differ-ent community at one site in an area referred to as wet prairie. Prairie plant species recognized by Dr. Carver continue to be present. Future monitoring events will strengthen our ability to look at long-term trends for those particular species. Maintenance of the prairie includes a variety of processes and tools (e.g. fire, herbicide, cutting, mowing). Together these actions appear to be meeting fire management objectives for fuel reduction, completeness, and species richness as well as supporting a diverse prairie community.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Leis, Sherry; Morrison, Lloyd
- Date of Issue
- 2017-06
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GWCA , HTLN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Burning, FIRE, Fire ecology monitoring reports, Fuel, HTLN Plant Communities Monitoring, Long-term monitoring, Monitoring, Plant community, Prairie, Prescribed Fire, Restoration, Shrubs, tallgrass prairie, Vegetation, Woodland