ROMN Uplands Vegetation Composition Structure and Soils (VCSS)

Witwicki, Dana

The Rocky Mountain Inventory & Monitoring Network (ROMN) includes a wide range of biophysical environments, ranging from mountain peaks down through evergreen and deciduous forests to western grasslands of the North American Great Plains. Here, we present a protocol to monitor vegetation and surface soils within the three smaller units of the Network (Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, and Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument) that are characterized by grassland, shrubland, and woodland ecosystems. The Vegetation Composition, Structure, and Soils (VCSS) protocol for small parks was developed through the integration and adaptation of the approaches of several other national inventory programs and through rigorous field testing. The primary objectives of the VCSS protocol are to: 1. Determine status and trend in vegetation structure, species composition, and diversity ingrassland, shrubland, and woodland ecosystems* within Network small parks. 2. Determine status and trends in abundance of invasive/exotic plant taxa in these areas based on park-specific lists of likely and ecologically significant invaders at each park. 3. Determine the status and trend in soil condition in grassland, shrubland, and woodlands* of each park based on measures of: a) dynamic properties such as soil stability, extent of non-vegetated soils, and erosion and b) inherent properties including physical texture,composition and soil chemistry. *excluding high visitor use areas, developed infrastructure, culturally sensitive locations, and unsafe or inaccessible sites To meet the VCSS objectives and to accurately describe the population of grassland, shrubland, and woodland systems within these three parks, we use spatially balanced probabilistic surveys for our sample design. Sample frames are based on soil map units, implemented throughout the entire park, and a paneled structure is used to allow both status and trend estimates. Our monitoring targets systematically exclude primary management and visitor use areas, sensitive resource areas, and any infrastructure, such as roads, trails and buildings, associated with these activities. Therefore, our objectives and results are applicable to the expanse of “natural” ecosystems within each park. The field methods at each site call for a combination of transects and plots to structure sampling of vegetation and soil within a 0.5 hectare circular sample area. We include systematic, repeated measurements of vegetation structure and composition, abundance of invasive species, dynamic soil surface properties (including soil stability, sheet and gully erosion and mineral soil exposure), and less frequently sampled inherent soil properties (such as nutrient levels and texture) as indicators of ecological integrity. We use the data to describe baseline conditions, examine change over time, describe spatial variability within and across parks, and correlate changes in vegetation and soil with climate and landscape-level drivers. The ROMN VCSS protocol provides robust methods for measuring change in grassland, shrubland, and woodland vegetation and soils in the parks and data that can be used in collaboration with other networks and programs to monitor grassland, shrubland and woodland vegetation and soils across the region.

ROMN Uplands Vegetation Composition Structure and Soils (VCSS)

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