Mesa Verde National Park loamy mesa-top pinyon-juniper 2019 data summary: Southern Colorado Plateau Network integrated upland monitoring
Swan M, McCoy L, Veety C. 2020. Mesa Verde National Park loamy mesa-top pinyon-juniper 2019 data summary: Southern Colorado Plateau Network integrated upland monitoring. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/SCPN/NRDS—2020/1301. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
This report presents a single-year snapshot of the data collected by the Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network (SCPN) in 2019 as part of integrated upland monitoring (IUM). Field crews collect data on soil stability and hydrologic function, biological soil crusts, and plant community characteristics, including abundance of functional groups, cover by species, richness and diversity, and frequency of nonnative species. In woodland and forested systems, density of seedlings, saplings and overstory tree species and canopy shading are measured. These data are summarized in a series of simple visualizations to provide a status overview for the year. Through this monitoring, SCPN seeks to increase understanding of upland systems and provide resource managers with valuable information they can use to help guide management decisions. In 2019, IUM field crews sampled 20 plots in the loamy mesa-top pinyon-juniper ecosystem at Mesa Verde National Park. We saw a large increase in the frequency of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) between our previous visit to this ecosite in 2017 and our last visit in 2019 although only 10 of the plots sampled in 2019 had been sampled in 2017, so direct comparison is not possible. Cheatgrass was encountered in only 15% of the plots we sampled in 2017, but in 75% of the plots we sampled in 2019. Another nonnative, prickly lettuce (Latuca serriola), was also encountered at a much higher frequency than previously. No new species were encountered in 2019.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Swan, Megan; McCoy, Lee; Veety, Carrie
- Date of Issue
- 2020-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- MEVE , NRSS , SCPN
- Keywords
- Exotic species, Monitoring, Pinyon-juniper, Plant community characteristics, Soil stability, Upland vegetation