Vegetation composition and structure: baseline monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network, 2008 annual summary report
Miller AE, Thompson WL, Moore CL. 2009. Vegetation composition and structure: baseline monitoring in the Southwest Alaska Network, 2008 annual summary report. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/SWAN/NRTR—2009/213. National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science. Fort Collins, Colorado
Landscape-scale monitoring vegetation monitoring will be conducted for all park units in the Southwest Alaska Network (SWAN) using a combination of remote-sensing products. Community-scale monitoring will be conducted in three parks (Lake Clark, Katmai, Kenai Fjords) using ground-based sampling in permanent monitoring plots. This report summarizes the results of baseline sampling in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve (2007-2008) and discusses refinements to the current sampling design. In 2007-2008, fifteen randomly-located 0.25 hectare vegetation plots were sampled for species cover, species occurrence, and structural attributes (e.g., tree height and density) in mid-elevation areas of interior Lake Clark NPP. Major vegetation types sampled included dwarf birch and white spruce woodland communities. Plot variables were summarized within and across sites for three of the major vegetation classes (dry dwarf birch, moist dwarf birch, and white spruce woodland). Trees in spruce woodland sites ranged from 60-125 years in age and tree mortality was low. Widespread infection of white spruce by spruce needle rust (Chrysomyxa ledicola) was observed in 2007. Frost damage to evergreen dwarf shrubs was also extensive in 2007, but the vegetation appeared to have mostly recovered by 2008. Estimates of within- and among-plot variance in species occurrence, species cover, and cover by growth form were used in simulations to refine estimates of sample size and sampling frequency. A rotating panel design, in which twelve plots per elevation band and vegetation class will be monitored in a given park each year, will be revisited at an interval of every five years. Monitoring efforts in 2009 will focus on the completion of up to three panels (36-40 plots) in low (0-450 m), mid- (450-900 m) and high (>900 m) elevation bands in Lake Clark NPP. Data loggers to measure soil temperature were installed at two sites in 2008, and will be installed at an additional three to five sites in 2009. One or more monitoring plots will also be collocated with the Snipe Lake RAWS weather station.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Miller, Amy; Thompson, William; Moore, Claudette
- Date of Issue
- 2009-05-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science
- Units
- NRSS , SWAN
- Keywords
- Abundance (Biodiversity), baseline sampling, Distribution (Biodiversity), dwarf birch, Lake Clark, Monitoring, Observations, Presence (Biodiversity), Vegetation, White Spruce