Vegetation Inventory Project Report: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve
Bell J, Cogan D, Erixson JA, Von Loh J. 2009. Vegetation Inventory Project Report: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/UCBN/NRTR—2009/277. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (CRMO) encompasses approximately 753,222 acres in south central Idaho. CRMO is located approximately 84 miles west of Idaho Falls, ID and 90 miles northeast from Twin Falls, ID. This unique unit of the National Park Service (NPS) includes volcanic cones, craters, lava flows, and kipukas characteristic of the Great Rift on the broad Eastern Snake River Plain. The park is cooperatively managed by the NPS and Bureau of Land Management and consists of three main lava flows, the Craters of the Moon, Kings Bowl and Wapi lava fields. This unique, moon-like, terrain supports approximately 701 species of vascular plants and includes examples of native plant communities common to cinder fields and lava beds. To better understand the distribution of the plant assemblages located at CRMO, the NPS Vegetation Mapping Program funded an effort, beginning in 2006, to map the vegetation at CRMO. The Upper Columbia Basin’s Inventory and Monitoring Network (UCBN) coordinated the vegetation inventory effort. A four-year, 4-phase program was initiated to complete the task of mapping and classifying the vegetation at CRMO. Phase one, directed by CRMO and UCBN staff in conjunction with Northwest Management Incorporated (NMI) and the Idaho Conservation Data Center (ICDC) developed a vegetation classification using the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS). To classify the vegetation, 506 representative plots located throughout the approximately 928,373 acre project area (753,222 acres + 2km environs buffer) were sampled during the summer of 2006. Analysis of the plot data by Idaho Conservation Data Center in the winter of 2006-2007 produced 93 distinct plant associations and 47 plant alliances. Vegetation descriptions and a field key for all of the unique plant assemblages for CRMO are included in this report.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Bell, Jack; Cogan, Dan; Erixson, John; Von Loh, Jim
- Date of Issue
- 2009-12
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- CRMO , NRSS , UCBN , VMI
- Keywords
- inventory and monitoring program, national vegetation classification standard (NVCS), Observations, Presence (Biodiversity), vegetation classificatoin, Vegetation Inventory, Vegetation Map