Forest Health Monitoring at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore 2017 Field Season
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Forest Health Monitoring at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore 2017 Field Season Natural Resource Data Series NPS/GLKN/NRDS—2019/1242 ON THE COVER Clockwise from top left: Herbaceous quadrat at rich site (NPS); collecting diameter at breast height of a beech tree (NPS); transect line (NPS); collecting herbaceous data in a rich ravine (NPS). Forest Health Monitoring at Voyageurs National Lakeshore 2017 Field Season Natural Resource Data Series NPS/GLKN/NRDS—2019/1242 Suzanne Sanders and Jessica Kirschbaum National Park Service Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network 2800 Lakeshore Dr. East Ashland, Wisconsin 54806 November 2019 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado, publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics. These reports are of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Data Series is intended for the timely release of basic data sets and data summaries. Care has been taken to assure accuracy of raw data values, but a thorough analysis and interpretation of the data has not been completed. Consequently, the initial analyses of data in this report are provisional and subject to change. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. Data in this report were collected and analyzed using methods based on established, peer-reviewed protocols and were analyzed and interpreted within the guidelines of the protocols. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U.S. Government. This report is available in digital format from the Great Lakes Inventory and Monitoring Network and the Natural Resource Publications Management website. If you have difficulty accessing information in this publication, particularly if using assistive technology, please email [email protected]. Please cite this publication as: Sanders, S., and J. Kirschbaum. 2019. Forest health monitoring at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore: 2017 field season. Natural Resource Data Series NPS/GLKN/NRDS—2019/1242. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 625/165452, November 2019 ii Contents Page Figures.................................................................................................................................................... v Tables ................................................................................................................................................... vii Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. ix Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. xi Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Methods .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Study Area ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Sampling Design and Field Methods ............................................................................................. 4 Sampling Design ....................................................................................................................... 4 Basic Measurements: Trees, Groundlayer, and Coarse Woody Material .................................. 4 Browse ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Tree Health ................................................................................................................................ 7 Earthworm Impacts ................................................................................................................... 8 Plant Identification .................................................................................................................... 8 Classifications and Summaries ....................................................................................................... 9 Forest Type Classification ......................................................................................................... 9 Functional Groups ..................................................................................................................... 9 Coefficients of Conservatism and the Modified Floristic Quality Index .................................. 9 2017 Status and Short-term Change of Indices ....................................................................... 10 Results .................................................................................................................................................. 11 Trees: 2017 Density by Diameter Classes .................................................................................... 12 Trees: Short-Term Change ........................................................................................................... 14 Coarse Woody Material and Standing Dead Trees ...................................................................... 16 Browse and Disease ...................................................................................................................... 17 Tree Health ................................................................................................................................... 20 Community Indices ...................................................................................................................... 21 iii Contents (continued) Page Earthworm Impacts ...................................................................................................................... 21 Discussion ............................................................................................................................................ 23 Management Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 23 Literature Cited .................................................................................................................................... 25 Appendix A. List of all species sampled.............................................................................................. 29 iv Figures Page Figure 1. Upper Peninsula of Michigan (inset) and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (main map). ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Figure 2. Great Lakes Network Hybrid plot showing three parallel transects (solid lines), tree sampling areas (bounding dashed rectangles), and quadrat locations (solid squares). .................. 5 Figure 3. Locations of 59 permanent monitoring plots. Dot color indicates the plot’s habitat class. ......................................................................................................................................... 11 Figure 4. Density by diameter size classes for plots, by forest type, 2017. ........................................ 13 Figure 5a. Density of live trees by forest type in the core (left) and IBZ (right) ................................ 14 Figure 5b. Density of living Fagus grandifolia density by forest type in core plots (left) and IBZ (right). .................................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 6a. Basal area of live trees by forest type in core plots (left) and IBZ (right) ......................... 15 Figure 6b. Basal area of living Fagus grandifolia by forest type in core plots (left) and IBZ (right) ............................................................................................................................................ 15 Figure 7. Density (left) and basal area (right) of living beech, standing dead beech, and standing dead trees of unknown species .............................................................................................. 15 Figure 8. Seedling density by forest type in core plots (left) and IBZ (right) ..................................... 16 Figure 9. Density of large, advanced decay, coarse, woody material pieces for wildlife (≥30 cm DBH, ≥2 m length, decay class 3 or 4). ................................................................................. 17 Figure 10. Density of standing dead trees ≥30 cm DBH in core plots (left) and IBZ plots (right) ..................................................................................................................................................