Plant community composition and structure monitoring at Mount Rushmore National Memorial: 2021 data report

Dupret LE and Swanson DJ. 2022. Plant community composition and structure monitoring at Mount Rushmore National Memorial: 2021 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/NGPN/NRDS—2022/1366. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2293495

This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2021 at Mount Rushmore National Memorial (MORU) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and Northern Great Plains Fire Effects (NGPFire) program. During the twelfth full year of field work at MORU, the NGPN and NGPFire field crews visited 17 long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots to collect plant community data. Crews collected data relating to species richness, herb-layer height, native and non-native species abundance, tree density, ground cover, and site disturbance from 6 plots. The NGPFire crew visited and collected vegetation data at an additional 11 plots. These collective efforts are part of long-term monitoring to help better understand the condition of the plant communities, forests, and the effects of prescribe fire on vegetation at MORU. Monitoring crews identified 83 vascular plant species in plots, of which 11 were exotic species in 2021. Average absolute cover of exotic species ranged from 0%-20%. Two species considered rare on the Black Hills National Forest state species list were observed. Seedlings (DBH 15 cm) were found in all seventeen plots. Disturbances were observed in five of seventeen plots, with soil disturbance as the most common.

Type
Published Report
Authors
Dupret, Louis; Swanson, Daniel
Date of Issue
2022-09
Publisher
National Park Service
DOI
10.36967/2293495
Units
MORU , 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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