Invasive Exotic Plant Monitoring at Colorado National Monument: 2024 Field Season
Perkins DW . 2025. Invasive Exotic Plant Monitoring at Colorado National Monument: 2024 Field Season. Science Report. NPS/SR—2025/342. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2314972
Invasive exotic plant (IEP) species are among the biggest threats to natural ecosystem integrity and biodiversity, and their control is a high priority for the National Park Service. The Northern Colorado Plateau Network (NCPN) selected early detection of IEPs as one of the 11 long-term monitoring protocols. This report represents work completed during the 2024 field season at Colorado National Monument (NM). From June 5 to 12, 2024, we recorded 955 patches of 14 different priority IEP species along 113.8 km (70.7 miles) of monitoring routes. Yellow sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis), yellow salsify (Tragopogon dubius), and ripgut brome (Anisantha diandra) were the most widespread species. Priority IEPs were found in highest numbers along the Ute Canyon (26.19 patches/km), East Glade Park Road (21.94 patches/km), Hydro 95 (21.16 patches/km), Monument Canyon (17.83 patches/km), Red Canyon (15.70 patches/km), and No Thoroughfare Canyon (14.42 patches/km) routes. Cheatgrass (Anisantha tectorum) was the most widespread species present in more than 80% of transects across all routes. Wedding Canyon, Fenceline, Ute Canyon, and Columbus/Red Canyon had the highest percentage cover. Field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis), Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), yellow sweet clover, woolly mullein (Verbascum thapsus), and yellow salsify in most areas, and Russian olive in Red Canyon all showed large increases in the number of patches per kilometer compared to the last sample period. Many infestations per kilometer of yellow sweet clover, woolly mullein, and yellow salsify were the highest recorded from 2009 to 2024. Tamarisk was not found in Colorado NM in 2024, which represented a decrease from the last sampling periods. Jointed goatgrass (Cylindropyrum cylindricum) also declined from 2021 in Fruita, No Thoroughfare, and Wedding Canyons. Russian knapweed (Acroptilon repens) and musk thistle (Carduus nutans) were detected in 2024 for the first time during our monitoring.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Perkins, Dusty
- Date of Issue
- 2025-08
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2314972
- Units
- COLM , NCPN , NRSS
- Keywords
- COLM, Exotic Species, Exotic/Invasive Species - Plants, Invasive Species, Monitoring, NCPN Invasive Plants Monitoring, Plant Studies
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic plants