Integrated Upland Vegetation and Soils Monitoring for Mesa Verde National Park: 2007 Summary Report
DeCoster JK and Swan MC. 2009. Integrated Upland Vegetation and Soils Monitoring for Mesa Verde National Park: 2007 Summary Report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/SCPN/NRDS—2009/007. Natural Resource Program Center. Fort Collins, Colorado
The National Park Service Vital Signs Monitoring Program was designed to monitor the status and trends in the condition of park natural resources, providing a strong scientific foundation for decision making and resource conservation for park managers. The Southern Colorado Plateau Network (SCPN) and park staff selected the Loamy Mesa Top Pinyon-Juniper ecological site as an important system to monitor at Mesa Verde National Park (MEVE). The SCPN Upland Monitoring crew implemented monitoring at MEVE in 2007, establishing 10 plots. Field methodology is provided in detail in the SCPN Integrated Upland Protocol. These data represent the first year baseline of sampling for the Loamy Mesa Top Pinyon-Juniper ecological site of MEVE. The data indicate that the understory has a moderate diversity of grasses, shrubs, and succulents. The higher diversity at coarser spatial scales and the moderately high beta diversity suggest high diversity on the landscape scale. The tree data suggest a healthy size structure, with abundant saplings and seedlings. Pinus edulis exhibits a moderately high density of snags, indicating recent mortality event(s). Even though the gap data demonstrate extensive areas occupied by large basal gaps, the potential for soil erosion is buffered by the high cover of biological crusts and duff/litter, coupled with moderately high soil aggregate stability.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- DeCoster, James; Swan, Megan
- Date of Issue
- 2009-07
- Publisher
- Natural Resource Program Center
- Units
- MEVE , NRSS , SCPN
- Keywords
- Abundance (Biodiversity), Loamy Mesa Top Pinyon-Juniper ecological site, Monitoring, Observations, Presence (Biodiversity), Soils, Taxa Links To Datasets, upland ecosystems, Vegetation