Source: UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA submitted to
DEVELOPING A LONG-TERM MONITORING PROTOCOL FOR RIPARIAN VEGETATION IN MOJAVE DESERT NETWORK
Sponsoring Institution
State Agricultural Experiment Station
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0221018
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
NEV052VP
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Aug 15, 2009
Project End Date
Aug 15, 2012
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Chandra, S.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA
(N/A)
RENO,NV 89557
Performing Department
Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences
Non Technical Summary
Knowing the condition of natural resources in national parks is fundamental to NPS's ability to manage park resources "unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." The goal of the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program (NPS I&M) is to track the overall health or condition of park resources and report this information to park managers and the public via reports, publications, and other outreach efforts. The Mojave Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network (MOJN) is implementing the NPS I&M Program at 7 park units and is developing a program to monitor "vital signs" or key elements or processes of park ecosystems that may be used to reflect park condition. Vegetation change is one of twenty vital signs selected for long-term monitoring at the MOJN. Information on long-term trends in both upland and riparian vegetation is needed to assist park staff in responsible management of and activities affecting these resources. Separate monitoring protocols are required for riparian and upland vegetation because vegetation in these systems have significantly different composition, structure, spatial distribution, and environmental and anthropogenic influences, necessitating a different sampling design and methodology. Upland vegetation is being addressed in the Integrated Upland Monitoring protocol.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
10203301070100%
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project is for the National Park Service and the University of Nevada to collaboratively develop protocols for the long-term monitoring of status and trends of riparian vegetation communities within Mojave Desert Network parks. Specifically the protocol will: 1) detect significant shifts in riparian vegetation community composition, structure, distribution, and areal extent, 2) determine the status and trend in mortality and regeneration of principal (dominant or targeted) riparian plant species, 3) determine the status and trends in abundance of principal woody riparian plant species, 4) Detect significant increases in the frequency and abundance of targeted invasive plant species (to be determined by Invasive/Exotic Plants protocol).
Project Methods
In order to develop these protocols the Chandra lab will review the relevant literature and meet with Park Service personnel at the Parks within the network and at other networks developing similar protocols. We will prepare a draft protocol and then work with Park staff to insure that it meets their needs. We will work with the Park data base manager to develop the riparian vegetation monitoring database.

Progress 08/15/09 to 08/15/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: For additional information. please contact Sudeep Chandra at 775-784-6221 or sudeep@cabnr.unr.edu PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
For additional information. please contact Sudeep Chandra at 775-784-6221 or sudeep@cabnr.unr.edu

Publications

  • No publications reported this period


Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The mission of the National Park Service is "to conserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment of this and future generations". To uphold this goal, the Director of the NPS approved the Natural Resource Challenge to encourage national parks to focus on the preservation of the nation's natural heritage through science, natural resource inventories, and expanded resource monitoring. Through the Challenge, 270 parks in the national park system were organized into 32 inventory and monitoring networks. The Mojave Desert Inventory and Monitoring Network in collaboration with each of its seven network parks has identified 20 priority vital signs, indicators of ecosystem health, which represent a broad suite of ecological phenomena operating across multiple temporal and spatial scales. A narrative protocol and standard operating procedures were developed to monitor riparian vegetation to address six of the vital signs: vegetation change, invasive/exotic plants, soil hydrologic function, soil chemistry and nutrient cycling, soil erosion and deposition, and soil disturbance. This protocol will also be conducted in collaboration with the groundwater and springs protocol, which addresses the groundwater dynamics and chemistry, surface water dynamics, and surface water chemistry vital signs. Monitoring of riparian vegetation will take place at desert springs at five of the network parks, Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Mojave Mojave National Preserve, and Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. In order to asses the health of the vital signs we will monitor the status and trends of, and the relationships between four main attributes of desert spring vegetation, 1) the areal extent of spring vegetation patches, 2) their species composition, abundance and structure, 3) the physical and chemical properties of their soils, and 4) their discharge and water quality. 1892 springs were assessed in the springs inventory. We will monitor 140 springs across the five parks in a rotating panel design, with 20 springs visited every other year and 120 visited every fourth year. The data will be analyzed using a mixed model approach. This protocol details the why, where, how, and when of the monitoring program. The protocol consists of a narrative and a set of standard operating procedures, which detail the steps required to collect, manage, and disseminate the data representing the status and trend of water quality parameters in the Network. Collected data, in combination with other vital signs monitoring, will provide a context for the interpretation of status and trends in water resources within the network. The protocol was field tested in 2011 and then submitted to the Mojave Network. PARTICIPANTS: Wendy Trowbridge TARGET AUDIENCES: National Park Service, Mojave Network PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
This protocol will allow the parks in the Mojave Network to monitor their riparian spring vegetation over time and detect long term changes and threats to these critical systems.

Publications

  • No publications at this time. The Narrative and SOPs have been submitted to the Mojave Network (2011).


Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Objectives: The goal of this project is for the National Park Service and the University of Nevada to collaboratively develop protocols for the long-term monitoring of status and trends of riparian vegetation communities within Mojave Desert Network parks. Specifically the protocol will: 1) detect significant shifts in riparian vegetation community composition, structure, distribution, and areal extent, 2) determine the status and trend in mortality and regeneration of principal (dominant or targeted) riparian plant species, 3) determine the status and trends in abundance of principal woody riparian plant species, 4) Detect significant increases in the frequency and abundance of targeted invasive plant species (to be determined by Invasive/Exotic Plants protocol). Methods:In order to develop these protocols the Chandra lab will review the relevant literature and meet with Park Service personnel at the Parks within the network and at other networks developing similar protocols. We will prepare a draft protocol and then work with Park staff to insure that it meets their needs. We will work with the Park data base manager to develop the riparian vegetation monitoring database. 2010 progress: During the 2010 calendar year we worked with the Mojave Inventory and Monitoring Network to develop field methods to address their monitoring questions and measurable objectives. We reviewed the relevant literature and met regularly with network personnel. We presented our progress in September at the technical committee meeting in Boulder City. In mid October we submitted a draft protocol narrative and initial SOPs. We also developed a plan to implement these field methods in spring of 2011 to test the methods, conduct a power analysis and estimate the error associated with the various techniques (e.g. quadrat cover estimates, GPS mapping of aerial extent). We will conduct this field testing in spring of 2011 and submit the final protocol in fall based on what we learn. PARTICIPANTS: Wendy Trowbridge, University of Nevada, Reno - Wendy conducted and was paid for the research involved with this project Collaborators: Geoff Moret, University of Idaho Debbie Soukup, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Donovan Craig, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Jean Pan, MOJN Dana Robinson, MOJN Jennifer Burke, MOJN Nita Tallent-Halsell, MOJN TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: We extended the funding and added one field season of methods testing.

Impacts
Change in action: We developed field methods that will be implemented this springs and a draft of protocols that will be used in a long term monitoring program throughout the Mojave parks.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period