Plant community composition and structure monitoring at Jewel Cave National Monument: 2021 data report

Dupret LE and Swanson DJ. 2022. Plant community composition and structure monitoring at Jewel Cave National Monument: 2021 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/NGPN/NRDS—2022/1367. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2293480

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring in 2021 at Jewel Cave National Monument (JECA) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology (NGPFire) program. This was the eleventh year of combined monitoring efforts. Crew members from NGPN and NGPFire visited seven long-term monitoring plots to collect data on the plant communities at JECA. 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. NGPN staff measured species richness, herb-layer height, native and non-native species abundance, ground cover, and site disturbance at each of the six plots. In plots where woody species were present, tree regeneration, tall shrub density, tree density, and woody fuel loads were also measured. In 2021, the NGPN and NGPFire monitoring crews identified 133 unique plant species in seven Plant Community Monitoring (PCM) plots. Of those species, 16 were exotic species. On average, the absolute cover of native species was much greater than the absolute cover of exotic species. No rare species were observed in any plots. NGPN and NGPFire crews collected tree regeneration and fuel load data in seven plots. Four different tree and shrub species were present; however, ponderosa pine was the dominant species. Ground disturbances, observed in seventeen of the eighteen plots, included animal use, prescribed fire, and soil disturbance.

Type
Published Report
Authors
Dupret, Louis; Swanson, Daniel
Date of Issue
2022-09
Publisher
National Park Service
DOI
10.36967/2293480
Units
JECA , NGPN , NRSS
Subjects
Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic plants , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Grassland/Herbaceous Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Vegetation Complex

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