Survey of Select Upland Communities and Associated Rare Species Found Throughout Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
Yahn BD. 2018. Survey of Select Upland Communities and Associated Rare Species Found Throughout Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky. Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (KSNPC)
Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (KSNPC) recently completed a multi-year wetland survey (2012-2015) to document rare wetland sites on broad-level uplands in Mammoth Cave National Park. Once completed, further study of the upland areas (non-wetland) within the Park was proposed in 2016 and granted. This report includes those surveys and the data collected, within the field seasons of 2016 and 2017. Before this project, it was KSNPC’s opinion that many areas in the Park were reaching significant maturity levels and/or holding onto remnant vegetation (i.e. barrens/glades) and thus qualifying as a natural community record for the KSNPC Heritage Database. A target list of important natural communities was compiled for this project. The primary focus of this proposal was to find the least disturbed and highest quality examples from this list. KSNPC also expected that any natural communities discovered would be areas of refugium for some of the rare species in the Park. Of the 36 sites selected, 23 were surveyed. Of the 23, five sites were labeled as 1st tier: of good to excellent condition (mostly supporting rare communities and species), another five sites were labeled as 2nd tier: of fair to good condition (some w/ rare communities and species), and five more sites were labeled as 3rd tier: of fair to poor condition and often w/ low to moderate plant diversity (only one w/ a rare community). Of the 23 sites with significance, eight included a community element occurrence, which have been recently added into the KSNPC heritage database. Seven sites included rare plant EOs, five of these are new occurrences to MCNP.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Yahn, Brian
- Date of Issue
- 2018-02
- Publisher
- Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (KSNPC)
- Units
- MACA
- Keywords
- CUPN, inventory, MACA, Mammoth Cave National Park, plants, rare communities, upland communities
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Grassland/Herbaceous Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities