Plant community composition and structure monitoring at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument: 2022 data report
Haefele NW and Dupret LE. 2023. Plant community composition and structure monitoring at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument: 2022 data report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/AGFO/NRDS—2023/1392. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2295520
This report presents the results of vegetation monitoring efforts in 2022 at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) by the Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Network (NGPN) and the Northern Great Plains Fire Ecology Program (NGPFire). This was the tenth year of combined monitoring efforts. In 2022, crew members from NGPN visited 6 long-term plant community monitoring (PCM) plots to collect data on the upland mixed-grass prairie plant communities at AGFO. This work is part of a long-term monitoring program established to better understand the condition of the vegetation community and how it changes over time. NGPN staff collected species richness, herb-layer height, native and non-native species abundance, ground cover, and site disturbance data at each plot. The NGPFire crew visited an additional 11 PCM and Fire Plant Community Monitoring (FPCM) plots in the North Carnegie, River-North, River-Middle, and River-South Burn Units to better understand the effects of prescribed fire on vegetation. In 2012, NGPN began monitoring plots within the riparian corridor of the Niobrara River. This year, NGPN evaluated 12 riparian community monitoring (RCM) plots. In 2022, the monitoring crews identified 130 unique plant species in 29 monitoring plots. Of these species, 29 are exotic species for the park. We observed two species, Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) and musk thistle (Carduus nutans), that are noxious in the state of Nebraska. Pale yellow iris (Iris pseudacorus), an exotic species of concern for the park, was observed at 8 of the 13 RCM plots monitored. The majority of upland and riparian plots had more native than exotic absolute cover. The most commonly observed disturbance was soil disturbance.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Haefele, Noah; Dupret, Louis
- Date of Issue
- 2023-04
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2295520
- Units
- AGFO , NGPN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Grasslands, mixed-grass prairie, Monitoring, monitoring report, plant community monitor, Plant community monitoring, Plant diversity, Riparian, Vegetation
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic plants , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Riparian Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Grassland/Herbaceous Communities , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Vegetation Complex