Vegetation Community Monitoring at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial: 2011–2024

Leis, Sherry

doi:10.36967/2315161

The forest at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, Indiana, was reconstructed to support the interpretation of the Lincoln family’s time at the site. The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network monitored the plant community at the park four times from 2011 to 2024. Monitoring occurred in four permanently monitored 0.1 ha sites. Midstory and overstory trees were measured across the 0.1 ha sites. Ground flora, including ground cover, canopy closure, and tree regeneration, were measured in 10 m2 nested plots. Data are summarized at the site scale with analysis at the park scale. The climate at the park has been warmer and wetter since the mid-1990s. Warming temperatures may contribute to water stress for plants despite increasing precipitation. Although an oak-hickory woodland was the target community, the vegetation structure was characterized as a closed canopy forest from 2011–2024. Fewer overstory tree species were observed in 2024 than in other years, although mean basal area and density were similar. Snag basal area was similar through time despite declines in white ash trees (Fraxinus americana). The fast-growing tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) and more mesic sugar maple (Acer saccharum) may benefit from the loss of ash. The ground layer is largely unvegetated and covered by shallow leaf litter. Woody plants and forbs were the most abundant in this forest layer. Both native and nonnative species richness increased from prior years, but species diversity metrics were similar. Gamma richness was much greater than in other years, but beta diversity was not, meaning species were generally not very abundant across the sites. The loss of ash from the overstory and advanced regeneration in conjunction with a shifting climate may continue to transform the forest. Management interventions to curtail problematic plants and rejuvenate the forest could be helpful for moving towards the target community type.

Vegetation Community Monitoring at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial: 2011–2024

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