An Evaluation Of Biological Inventory Data Collected At Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site: Vertebrate And Vascular Plant Inventories
Moore BJ. 2009. An Evaluation Of Biological Inventory Data Collected At Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site: Vertebrate And Vascular Plant Inventories. Natural Resource Report. NPS/CUPN/NRR—2009/135. National Park Service, Natural Resource Program Center. Fort Collins, Colorado
An important function of the National Park Service (NPS) is protecting and maintaining the biological diversity found within parks. In an effort to assist parks in documenting vascular plants and vertebrates, the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program (I&M) provided funding and technical assistance through its 32 I&M Networks. Abrhaham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site (ABLI) is within the Cumberland Piedmont Network (CUPN). In cooperation with ABLI, CUPN compiled existing information on vertebrates and vascular plants (i.e., species listes with related attribute and spatial data) and initiating additional field investigations in an effort to document 90% of the species of vertebrates (amphibians, birds, fish, mammals and reptiles) and vascular plants believed to occur on ABLI. All data were entered and certified in NPSpecies, the NPS master database for documenting the occurrence and status of species.Based on the number of organisms categoriezed as Present in Park (i.e., documented) and Probably Present (high confidence of occurrence in park but undocumented), 95% of ABLI’s vertebrates and vascular plants are documented. However, the fact that some expected amphibians went undetected is of note considering increasing reports of declines within this group. No, federally listed threatened or endangered organisms were documented on ABLI. However, 87 non-native organisms were documented on the park including 21 with a high Invasive Species Impact Rank. As a result, non-native species are potentially the most immediate threat to the overall ecological health and biological diversity of the park. Additional findings, based on a review of the available data for ABLI, are discussed in this report.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Moore, Bill
- Date of Issue
- 2009-07
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Natural Resource Program Center
- Units
- ABLI , CUPN , NRSS
- Keywords
- Amphibian, Bird, CUPN, CUPN_Other Inventory Reports, Exotic Species, Fish, Inventory, Mammal, Reptile, Sensitive Species, Vascular Plant