SFCN Forest Monitoring (2020 - Ongoing)
Whelan KR, Shamblin B, Prats M. SFCN Forest Monitoring (2020 - Ongoing). 2020. South Florida/Caribbean Network
The South Florida/Caribbean Network (SFCN) conducts long-term forest monitoring as part of the nationwide Inventory and Monitoring Division of the National Park Service. Forest vegetation in parks is monitored as a key vital sign and indicator of overall ecosystem health because changes in forest condition reflect effects of stressors such as extreme weather, disease, invasive species, fire, and land use change. The goal of this monitoring project is to assess the overall health and status of select focal forest communities over time within SFCN parks and inform park management of observed trends. The monitoring program objective is to detect meaningful changes in species composition and vegetation structure within specific focal forest communities in SFCN parks and determine whether these changes are correlated with trends in key stressors. The focal forest communities monitored within the SFCN South Florida parks include Hardwood Hammocks, Coastal Hardwood Hammocks, Mangrove Forests, Pinelands, and Cypress Forests, while in the U.S Virgin Islands, the focus shifts to Mangrove Forests, Tropical Dry Forests, and Tropical Moist Forests. Monitored forest communities of special management concern are Manchineel Forests at Buck Island Reef National Monument, Black Mangrove Forests at Dry Tortugas National Park, and Mangrove Forests in Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve and Virgin Islands National Park. Plots are 20 × 20 meters (65.6 × 65.6 feet [ft]) in size. Data collected in each plot include species richness, species-specific cover and constancy, species-specific woody stem seedling/sapling counts, tree (greater than 5 centimeters [1.97 inches (in)]) diameter at breast height (DBH), site conditions and environmental covariates. This project is a repository for all datasets, protocols, reports, and other types of publications pertaining to forest monitoring in Big Cypress National Preserve, Biscayne National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park, Everglades National Park, Buck Island Reef National Monument, Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve, and Virgin Islands National Park.
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- Whelan, Kevin; Shamblin, Brooke; Prats, Michelle
- Publisher
- South Florida/Caribbean Network
- Units
- BICY , BISC , BUIS , DRTO , EVER , SARI , VIIS
Program
Products
- Mangrove Madness: What Are Mangroves and Why Do We Care About Them?
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Resource Brief - 2020
- SFCN Forest Vegetation Monitoring: Standard Operating Procedures
- South Florida/Caribbean Network forest vegetation monitoring: Protocol implementation plan
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Ecotones and Community Structure Resource Brief - Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve (2017)
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Database
- Hurricane Wilma benefits mangrove forests at Everglades National Park
- Regional processes in mangrove ecosystems: spatial scaling relationships, biomass, and turnover rates following catastrophic disturbance
- Hydrologic Variation/Ecological Processes in the Mangrove Forests
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM01: Field Season Preparation—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM02: Sampling Design and in Office Review—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM03: Plot Evaluation, Plot Establishment, and Return Visits—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM04: Plot Photo Points—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM05: Canopy Closure and Stand Height Measurements—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM06: Tree Measurements—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM07: Species Diversity and Seedling/Sapling Measurements—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM08: Woody Debris—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM09: Using GPS (Based on use of the Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx and newer GPS units)—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM10: Data Quality Assurance and Quality Control—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM11: Data Management: Procedures Upon Return from the Field—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM12: Data Analysis and Reporting—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM13: Deviations and Summary of Major Changes—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM14: Safety—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM15: Revising the Protocol—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Standard Operating Procedure FVM16: Using Haglöf DME Distance Range Finder—Version 1.0
- SFCN Forest Monitoring Database