Early detection of invasive species at Klamath Network parks in 2017

Smith, Sean; McCoy, Shannon; Burris, Malorie

Every other year since 2009, the Klamath Network Inventory and Monitoring Network (KLMN) has conducted Invasive Species Early Detection (ISED) monitoring at six of the network’s parks, including Crater Lake National Park (CRLA), Lassen Volcanic National Park (LAVO), Lava Beds National Monument (LABE), Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve (ORCA), Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP), and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (WHIS). The objectives of this monitoring are to detect populations of selected invasive plant species as early as possible in the infestation cycle and immediately provide this information to park management to allow effective management response (Odion et al. 2010). The KLMN implemented its fourth season of the ISED monitoring from June to September 2017. During the 2017 field season, crews visited each of the six monitored parks roughly at the height of flowering season in each park and in the following approximate order: WHIS, LABE, ORCA, RNSP, LAVO, and CRLA. After incorporating any park-requested changes to the park’s sampling frame and/or prioritized invasive plant species list, the network project lead and data manager performed a random, spatially-balanced sample of road and trail segments to be surveyed in each park. Given the efficiency of the 2017 crew, favorable weather, and excellent logistics coordination, the crew not only completed surveys of targeted segments, but also many of the oversample segments. This annual report provides a basic summary of the 2017 field season results. In total, the crew surveyed 148 road and trail segments (total of 263 km), including 17 segments in CRLA, 25 in LAVO, 33 in LABE, 11 in ORCA, 36 in RNSP, and 26 in WHIS. The crew observed 721 separate infestations. The percentage of park segments infested with the park’s prioritized list of invasive species ranged from 3 – 91%. Note that comparisons among parks and among years should be avoided because each park has a unique and evolving list of prioritized species that varies in number and composition; also, sampling frames within parks have changed over time. After the field season, infestation information and maps were provided to each park, and in this report, we provide park-specific results, including survey dates, survey effort, level of infestation by species, abundance maps, and each park’s prioritized species list for the 2017 survey.

Early detection of invasive species at Klamath Network parks in 2017

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