Forest structure and fuel loads at Wind Cave National Park: 2017 status report

Ashton, Isabel; Davis, Christopher; Swanson, Daniel

The Northern Great Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network and the Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program surveyed 90 forested plots in Wind Cave National Park (WICA) in 2017. The survey effort began in 2012, and is repeated every 5 years thereafter to better understand status and trends in forest vegetation. The 2017 survey was the second year of forest data collection. Tree stem density, tree diameter, live and dead tree condition, fire fuel loads, cover of exotic species, and disturbance were measured in all plots. Ten plots were within the boundary of Casey Addition that was acquired by the park in 2011 and the remaining 80 were in the main portion of the park. In this report, we provide a summary of our results from sampling in 2017. The density of ponderosa pine forests and woodlands that cover WICA are similar to densities in pre-settlement era, although there are some high density stands. There are slight differences in forest structure between the Casey Addition and the main portion of the park. For instance, the ponderosa pine seedlings are found in higher densities in the main portion of the park. Exotic species were generally more common in the main portion of the park, although Japanese brome was widespread in both areas. We found very little change in forest structure between 2012 and 2017, but in 2017 we found higher frequencies of exotic target species such as Japanese brome and Canada thistle. The Legion Lake wildfire occurred after this survey, and we expect to see larger changes in forest densities and seedling recruitment the future

Forest structure and fuel loads at Wind Cave National Park: 2017 status report

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