Integrated Upland Vegetation and Soils Monitoring for Aztec Ruins National Monument: 2008 Summary Report
DeCoster JK and Swan MC. 2009. Integrated Upland Vegetation and Soils Monitoring for Aztec Ruins National Monument: 2008 Summary Report. Natural Resource Data Series. NPS/SCPN/NRDS—2009/014. National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center. Fort Collins, Colorado
The Southern Colorado Plateau Network (SCPN) is monitoring vegetation and soils as overall indicators of upland ecosystem integrity. The SCPN Upland Monitoring crew began monitoring at Aztec Ruins National Monument (AZRU) in 2008 with the establishment of six plots in the Limy ecological site. Field methodology is provided in detail in the SCPN Integrated Upland Protocol (DeCoster et al., in review). These data represent the first year baseline of sampling for the Limy ecological site at AZRU. The data indicate that the shrub/herbaceous layer consisted of a moderately diverse mixture of shrubs and grasses. Trees were sparse, with low density and low basal area. Juniperus osteosperma was the only tree represented in the plots. Even though the gap data demonstrated extensive areas occupied by large basal gaps, and the surface has little development of biological crusts, the potential for soil erosion is buffered by the moderate rating of soil aggregate stability. The SCPN Integrated Upland crew will revisit these six plots at a regular interval. Each year’s data will be compared to the previously collected data to assess changes through time in vegetation composition and structure and in soil stability and hydrologic function.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- DeCoster, James; Swan, Megan
- Date of Issue
- 2009-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center
- Units
- AZRU , NRSS , SCPN
- Keywords
- Abundance (Biodiversity), Limy ecological site, Monitoring, Observations, Presence (Biodiversity), Soils, Taxa Links To Datasets, upland ecosystems, Vegetation, Vouchers