SECN Monitoring [Legacy]: Vegetation Monitoring 2011-2017

Southeast Coast Network

This project houses products form the vegetation monitoring effort from 2011-2017, prior to the publication of the current Protocol Implementation Plan. Vegetation communities are the primary drivers for a range of ecological processes and are integral to the proper function of park ecosystems. They serve as the foundation for food webs and wildlife habitat for many species, and function as a carbon sink, produce oxygen, cycle nutrients and energy through an ecosystem, influence the local climate, improve water quality, and moderate flooding and erosion. Given the widespread anthropogenic influences in Southeast Coast Network (SECN) parks and the importance of vegetation communities, quantifying trends in plant cover, frequency, diversity, and distribution is vital to understanding the ecological processes and identifying stressors and their impacts. Evaluating trends in plant cover, frequency, diversity and distribution provides measures for assessing the ecological integrity and sustainability of southeastern ecosystems and identifying the need for specific management activities on our park lands. The National Park Service Omnibus Management Act of 1998 and other reinforcing policies and regulations require park managers to establish baseline information and to provide information on the long-term trends in the condition of National Park System resources (Title II, Sec. 204). The vegetation-community monitoring data summarized herein is a tool to assist park managers in fulfilling this mandate.

SECN Monitoring [Legacy]: Vegetation Monitoring 2011-2017

Program

Products