Plant community composition and structure monitoring at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site: 2018 data report
Davis MB. 2019. Plant community composition and structure monitoring at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site: 2018 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/NGPN/NRDS—2019/1199. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring in 2018 at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site (KNRI) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire). This was the eighth year of field work conducted by NGPN at KNRI. In 2018, 14 long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots were visited to collect data on the plant communities at KNRI. Crew members from NGPN visited eight PCM plots and the NGPFire crew visited six PCM plots. 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. Data was not collected at one plot visited by NGPN, PCM_009, because of concerns for crew safety. At each of the remaining 13 plots, crews measured species richness, herb-layer height, native and non-native species abundance, and ground cover. In plots where woody species were present, tree regeneration, tall shrub density, tree density, and woody fuel loads were also measured. At the plots visited by NGPN, early detection exotic species and disturbances were assessed as well. In 2018, monitoring crews identified 79 unique plant species, 13 of which were exotic species. No rare plants or early detection exotic plants were observed. Plot PCM_017, located in the North Prairie burn unit, had the highest total of unique species: 28 native, plus 4 exotic species. At one plot, PCM_008, only exotic species were observed. Tree regeneration and fuel load data were collected in 3 of the 14 plots. A total of eight different tree and shrub species were present. The most commonly observed disturbances were soil disturbance and windstorm.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Davis, Molly
- Date of Issue
- 2019-01
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- KNRI , NGPN , NRSS
- Keywords
- cottonwood, Grasslands, mixed-grass prairie, Monitoring, monitoring report, plant community monitor, Plant diversity, Riparian forest, Vegetation