# Presentation: 884895

## Invasive Non-native Plant Monitoring Protocol Development in the Prairie Cluster and Heartland I&M Network

- Craig C. Young
- Botanist
- Prairie Cluster and Heartland I&M Network
- Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield
- Republic, Missouri

## Presentation Purpose and Outline

- Purpose:  To report on the status of the invasive non-native plant monitoring protocol
- Outline
- Overview of invasive non-native plants
- Prioritization of invasive non-native plant management and monitoring efforts
- Sampling designs to monitor invasive non-native plants

## Invasive Non-native Plants (INPs)

- Invasive plant – a plant that is increasing in its range
- Non-native plant – a plants that was introduced intentionally or unintentionally due to human actions

- Photo courtesy of XID and WSSA

## Impact of Invasive Non-native Plants (1)

- Alteration of cultural/historical landscapes
- Displacement or reduced vigor of native plant populations due to competition with INPs
- Disruption of predator-prey interactions
- Disruption of ecosystem processes (e.g. hydrological regimes, nutrient cycling, fire regimes)
-  Economic costs of INP control

- Photo courtesy of XID and WSSA

## Not all INPs are problematic

INPs may not warrant control at all due to expense or due to impacts on other species and communities

INPs may not warrant control at all sites due to expense or due to impacts on other species and communities

- Not all INPs are problematic
- INPs may not warrant control at all due to expense or due to impacts on other species and communities
- INPs may not warrant control at all sites due to expense or due to impacts on other species and communities

- Impact of Invasive Non-native Plants (2)

- Photo courtesy of XID and WSSA

## Invasive Non-native Plant Monitoring Prioritization

- Parks with INPs as a high priority vital sign
- Park management objectives
- Federal and state noxious weed lists
- Alien Plant Ranking System (Hiebert and Stubbendieck 1993)
- High priority sites (INP-free areas, management units)

- Photo courtesy of XID and WSSA

## Desired Characteristics of INP Monitoring Protocol

- Relevant
- addresses high priority management questions
- Reliable
- repeatable
- quantitative
- high statistical power
- Flexible
- suitable for multiple network parks
- scale
- plot size
- plot number
- Simple
- logistics
- field workers
- analysis
- Recognizes Trade-offs

- Photo courtesy of XID and WSSA

## Invasive Non-native Plant Monitoring

- NPS currently has no comprehensive strategy for monitoring INPs
- INP monitoring is important for:
- detecting new invasions (early detection)
- documenting changes in existing invasions
- providing information on abundance and distribution to assist management
- tracking park-scale effectiveness of INP management

- Photo courtesy of XID and WSSA

## The Best Monitoring Design...Maps

- If we could map the location of all INPs on a park over time, we could:
- Detect new INP establishment (early detection)
- Measure changes in the size of individual populations
- Examine patterns in distribution and abundance (e.g. site preferences, INP concentrations, INP-free areas)
- Assess management effectiveness

## Monitoring Changes in INP Population Size

- Photo by Dan Tenaglia, courtesy of XID and WSSA

## Simulated INP Distribution and Abundance at Pea Ridge NMPTime 1

## Simulated INP Distribution and Abundance at Pea Ridge NMP Time 2

## Simulated INP Distribution and Abundance at Pea Ridge NMP Time 3

## The Bad News Is...Mapping Won’t Work

- INPs populations often do not have a distinct “drip edge”
- Careful mapping rules and surveying requirements would be prohibitively tedious and time consuming
- Even for relatively small parks, searching an entire park is generally not feasible

- The Good News Is...Sampling Designs Can Address Many of These Same Questions

## Design 1: Grid

- Design Features:
- small plots (3-5 m radius circles)
- systematic location
- coarse cover class system

## Design 1: Prioritization

## Design 1: Focal Management Area

## Design 1: Focal Area Sampling Design

## Design 1: Adaptive Sampling (1)

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- If INP occurs in initial plot, then sample plots that share a contiguous border with the initial plot.

## Design 1:  Adaptive Sampling (2)

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- Time 2

- Time 1

## Design 2: Monitoring Corridors

- INPs are known to spread along corridors such as roads, trails, and streams.
- INP occurrence and cover can be measured in plots on transects that are anchored to the corridor.

## Design 2: Transect Anchor Points  

- Design Features:
- small plots (3-5 m radius circles)
- systematic location along corridor
- coarse cover class system

## Design 3: Coarse Mapping of Invasive Non-native Plants 

## Design 3: Coarse Mapping of Invasive Non-native Plants(2)

- Design Features:
- collect GPS position
- determine the observation distance (flexible radius)
- describe INP distribution:
- clumped or regular
- coarse cover class system
- used in conjunction with grid sampling

## INP Monitoring Protocol:Three Complementary Designs

- Grid Monitoring Design
- covers entire park
- allows for monitoring prioritization
- adaptive sampling option increases statistical power and tracks local spread
- Corridor Monitoring Design
- targets a common and important INP invasion site
- detects spread from corridors to adjacent areas
- Coarse Mapping
- permits rapid mapping
- used with grid sampling to increase early detection

## Acknowledgments

- Cuyahoga Valley NP
- Pea Ridge NMP
- National I&M Program
- Prairie Cluster and Heartland I&M Network