Plant community composition and structure monitoring at Jewel Cave National Monument: 2018 data report
Rockwood SL. 2019. Plant community composition and structure monitoring at Jewel Cave National Monument: 2018 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/NGPN/NRDS—2019/1196. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report presents the results of the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network’s vegetation monitoring at Jewel Cave National Monument (JECA) in 2018. This was the eighth year that the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) conducted field work at JECA. Crew members from NGPN visited six long-term monitoring plots to collect data on the plant communities at JECA. This work is part of a long-term monitoring effort designed to provide a better understanding of the condition of the vegetation community and how it changes over time. NGPN staff measured species richness, herb-layer height, native and non-native species abundance, ground cover, and site disturbance at each of the six plots. In plots where woody species were present, tree regeneration, tall shrub density, tree density, and woody fuel loads were also measured. In 2018, the NGPN monitoring crews identified 132 unique plant species in six monitoring plots. Of those species, 16 were exotic species. On average, the absolute cover of native species was much greater than the absolute cover of exotic species. No rare species were observed in any of the six plots. NGPN crews collected tree regeneration and fuel load data in all six plots. Three different tree and shrub species were present, however ponderosa pine was the dominant species. Ground disturbances, observed in three of the six plots, included animal use, a road, storm damage, and soil disturbance.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Rockwood, Stephanie
- Date of Issue
- 2019-01
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- JECA , 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