Chickasaw National Recreation Area Exotic Plants Monitoring Summary—2022

Owen, Merran; Pingatore, A.; Barry, C.; Valentine-Darby, P.

Each year, the Southern Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network (SOPN) monitors pathways of exotic plant introduction at Chickasaw National Recreation Area (NRA) (CHIC) and other network parks. The areas sampled are typically linear transects along roads, trails, boundary lines, and stream channels that are at high risk for exotic plant invasion and infestation. The transects for each park are divided into three panels, with one panel sampled each year. In select years, exotic plant data are also collected at predetermined grid points spaced 150 meters (m) apart, at four regions within the park (West Hunting, Veterans Lake, The Point, and Cedar Blue). Grid-point surveys are done to determine the extent and distribution of exotic plants within the park interior landscape. Historically, SOPN Exotic Plant-Early Detection surveys have recorded all exotic plants found at transects and grid points. Beginning with the 2023 field season, we will restrict surveys at CHIC to a short list customized to each park. Our intent is to document infestations for which we recommend treatment, and to monitor species of high concern. The new monitoring list for CHIC was drawn from the park’s Natural Resource Condition Assessment (NRCA), completed by Struthers et al. (2016). In the NRCA, exotic plants found in 2012–2014 CHIC surveys were ranked across a series of factors, following a system designed by Hiebert and Stubbendieck (1993). Factors were based on the plant’s innate pest potential, and included reproductive abilities, germination requirements, and competitive abilities. The rankings were then used to classify plants into the following categories: highest concern, high concern, medium concern, and low concern. The 22 highest ranking plants were designated as high priority species for the park, 15 of which are included in our monitoring. For further detail, see the CHIC NRCA (Struthers et al. 2016).