Walnut Canyon National Monument ponderosa pine woodland 2020 data summary: Southern Colorado Plateau Network integrated upland monitoring
Swan M and Veety C. 2022. Walnut Canyon National Monument ponderosa pine woodland 2020 data summary: Southern Colorado Plateau Network integrated upland monitoring. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/SCPN/NRDS—2022/1370. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2294341
This report contains a single year snapshot of the data collected by the Southern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network in 2020 as part of integrated upland monitoring (IUM). IUM includes both vegetation and soil measurements. 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 saplings and overstory tree species and canopy shading are also measured. 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 2020, IUM field crews sampled 12 plots in the ponderosa pine woodland ecosystem at Walnut Canyon National Monument. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked with a two-person field crew, but were able to sample all the plots. 2020 was one of the driest and warmest on record for Flagstaff, which was reflected in the field as low herbaceous and shrub cover.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Swan, Megan; Veety, Carrie
- Date of Issue
- 2022-10
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2294341
- Units
- NRSS , SCPN , WACA
- Keywords
- biological soil crusts, monitoring, nonnative species, plant community characteristics, plant functional groups, Ponderosa pine woodland, soil stability, Upland vegetation
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities