Investigator’s Annual Reports (IAR’s) for Crater Lake National Park
2005 Crater Lake NP Rangeland Ecological Site Description Data Collection
Report Number: 35873
Reporting Year: 2005
Permit Number: CRLA-2005-SCI-0010
Current Status: Checked in
Date Received: Mar 20, 2006
Principal Investigator: Jeff Repp, USDA-NRCS-WNTSC, Portland, OR
Park-assigned Study Id. # CRLA-00012
Permit Expiration Date: Aug 19, 2005
Permit Start Date: Jun 27, 2005
Study Starting Date: Jun 27, 2005
Study Ending Date: Jul 15, 2005
Study Status: Completed
Activity Type: Inventory
Subject/Discipline: Plant Communities (Vegetation)
Objectives: To complete rangeland ecological site descriptions (9) as part of the Crater Lake NP area Soil Survey. The sites are already correlated with soil map unit components. The sites will be made available to the public at the ESIS (ecological site information system) portion of USDA’s PLANTS database [http://plants.usda.gov/]. Most of the field work was conducted in 2000 and 2001 in conjunction with the soil survey.
Findings and Status: Plant community data was collected at nine sites in the park the weeks of June 27th and July 11th, 2005. Plots were strategically located in the ecological sites to measure plant community characteristics. The plots and lines were located by GPS and were not marked otherwise. Three 100 foot lines (sometimes alternative lengths were used on the smaller woodland wetland areas) were set up in a radiating pattern for data collection. Protocols included were: 1) Line-point Intercept (300 feet), 2) Basal and canopy gap analysis (300 feet), 3) Production estimates (double sampling of six sub-plots, 2.4 sq ft in size), 4) Soil Aggregate Stability analysis (18 samples per plot), and 5) Rangeland Health Assessment (18 indicators). Extensive photo documentation of each plot/line was collected as well. No soil or plant materials were removed from the plots unless further taxonomic identification was required (plants were bagged, moisturized and removed for further study as needed; only enough plant material for identification was collected).
Plot information was entered in the Range Database for inventory and monitoring (available at: http://usda-ars.nmsu.edu/monit_assess/rangedb_main.php). The data collection also served to test the utility and function of the database in cooperation with ARS, Jornada Experimental Range, and New Mexico State University. The database is in beta release and analysis and report generation programming is in progress.
Data from the nine grassland (rangeland) ecological sites in Crater Lake National Park will be analyzed and incorporated into ecological site descriptions (using data collected in 2000 and 2001 also). Data analysis and drafting of ecological site descriptions will be completed in 2006. No plans are currently under consideration for re-measuring the plots (although this would be highly desirable). This study is functionally concluded unless the opportunity arises to monitor vegetation changes at the plots and/or collect additional data at the same points.
For this study, were one or more specimens collected and removed from the park but not destroyed during analyses? No
Funding provided this reporting year by NPS: 0
Funding provided this reporting year by other sources: 6500
Full name of college or university: n/a
Annual funding provided by NPS to university or college this reporting year: 0
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