Wupatki National Monument loamy upland 2019 data summary: Southern Colorado Plateau Network integrated upland monitoring
Swan M, McCoy L, Veety C. 2020. Wupatki National Monument loamy upland 2019 data summary: Southern Colorado Plateau Network integrated upland monitoring. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/SCPN/NRDS—2020/1302. 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 upland ecosystem at Wupatki National Monument. The weather was very hot and dry—the crew had to use paper datasheets to record data because the tablets we use just could not handle the heat. Several 50 m tapes melted also due to the heat! The plants were very dry, with some forbs that had obviously sprouted in the spring but nearly all the forbs were dead by the time the crews were sampling. We continue to see few nonnative species in our plots and no new species were encountered during sampling this season.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Swan, Megan; McCoy, Lee; Veety, Carrie
- Date of Issue
- 2020-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- NRSS , SCPN , WUPA
- Keywords
- Exotic species, Grassland, Monitoring, Plant community characteristics, Soil stability, Upland vegetation