South Florida/Caribbean Network forest vegetation monitoring: Protocol implementation plan

Whelan, Kevin; Shamblin, Robert; Prats, Michelle; Patterson, Judd; Londono, Mario; Muxo, Robert

The South Florida/Caribbean Network (SFCN) conducts long-term forest monitoring as part of the nationwide Inventory and Monitoring Division of the National Park Service. Forest vegetation in parks is monitored as a key vital sign and indicator of overall ecosystem health because changes in forest condition reflect effects of stressors such as extreme weather, disease, invasive species, fire, and land use change. Forest vegetation also provides the structured habitat and food resources on which other species depend. The SFCN forest monitoring protocol concentrates on focal forest communities (typically the dominant forest types) within the SFCN parks and a few additional forest communities of special management concern. These focal forest communities are affected by a combination of physical features and processes that have historically been present (hydrology, salinity, fire, frost, topography, aspect, soil type and depth). Monitoring focal forests over time allows for greater understanding of these ecosystems within the SFCN geography, which provides managers information about the degree of change within these communities. Forest monitoring takes place in seven national park units within the South Florida/Caribbean Network. Parks include Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY), Biscayne National Park (BISC), Dry Tortugas National Park (DRTO), and Everglades National Park (EVER) in south Florida. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the SFCN park units are Buck Island Reef National Monument (BUIS), Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (SARI), and Virgin Islands National Park (VIIS). The South Florida/Caribbean Network monitors between eight and fifty-four randomly located plots within each park (except for BUIS and DRTO that have one and two plots, respectively). The number of plots depends on several factors, including the total terrestrial area and coverage of focal forest within the park. Monitored focal forests in the South Florida parks include Hardwood Hammocks, Coastal Hardwood Hammocks, Mangrove Forests, Pinelands, and Cypress Forests. In the U.S. Virgin Islands, the focal forests include Mangrove Forests, Tropical Dry Forests, and Tropical Moist Forests. Monitored forest communities of special management concern are Manchineel Forest at BUIS, Black Mangrove Forest at DRTO, and Mangrove Forest in SARI and VIIS. Plots are 20 × 20 meters (65.6 × 65.6 feet [ft]) in size. Data collected in each plot include species richness, species-specific cover and constancy, species-specific woody stem seedling/sapling counts, tree (greater than 5 centimeters [1.97 inches (in)]) diameter at breast height (DBH), site conditions and environmental covariates. The South Florida/Caribbean Network’s approach, rationale, and required resources for forest monitoring are described in this document, the protocol implementation plan narrative. Sixteen associated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) provide detailed instructions on how to collect, manage, analyze, and disseminate the project’s findings. The network’s narrative and some SOPs are derived, in large part, from the Vegetation Monitoring Protocol for the Cumberland Piedmont Network, Version 1 (White et al. 2011). Additional methods were also adopted from the Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring in Southeast Coast Network parks: Protocol Implementation Plan. (Boyle et al. 2019) and the Monitoring Vegetation in Gulf Coast Network Parks: Protocol Implementation Plan (Carlson et al. 2018). These methods and any differences in approach between the various networks are documented throughout this South Florida/Caribbean Network narrative and the associated SOPs

South Florida/Caribbean Network forest vegetation monitoring: Protocol implementation plan

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