George Washington Memorial Parkway Natural Resource Condition Assessment
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science George Washington Memorial Parkway Natural Resource Condition Assessment Natural Resource Report NPS/GWMP/NRR—2016/1121 ON THE COVER Photograph of Great Falls in Great Falls Park, Virginia. Photograph courtesy of Brent Steury, National Park Service. George Washington Memorial Parkway Natural Resource Condition Assessment Natural Resource Report NPS/GWMP/NRR—2016/1121 Brianne M. Walsh1, Simon D. Costanzo2, William C. Dennison2 1Integration and Application Network University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science 1 Park Place Suite 325 Annapolis, MD 21401 2Integration and Application Network University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science 2020 Horns Point Road Cambridge, MD 21613 Mark Lehman, Megan Nortrup National Capital Region Inventory & Monitoring National Park Service 4598 MacArthur Blvd NW Washington, DC 20007 Brent Steury, Simone Monteleone George Washington Memorial Parkway National Park Service 700 George Washington Memorial Parkway McLean, VA 22101 January 2016 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 Report Series is used to disseminate comprehensive information and analysis about natural resources and related topics concerning lands managed by the National Park Service. The series supports the advancement of science, informed decision-making, and the achievement of the National Park Service mission. The series also provides a forum for presenting more lengthy results that may not be accepted by publications with page limitations. 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 National Capital Region Network website (http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/ncrn/index.cfm) and the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). To receive this report in a format optimized for screen readers, please email [email protected]. Please cite this publication as: Walsh, B. M, S. D. Costanzo, W. C. Dennison, J. P. Campbell, M. Lehman, M. Nortrup, B. Steury, and S. Monteleone. 2016. Natural resource condition assessment for George Washington Memorial Parkway: National Capital Region. Natural Resource Report NPS/GWMP/NRR—2016/1121. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 850/131255, January 2016 ii Contents Page Figures.................................................................................................................................................. vii Tables .................................................................................................................................................... xi Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................. xv Background................................................................................................................................... xv Natural Resource Condition Assessment .................................................................................... xvi Ecological monitoring framework ............................................................................................... xvi Recommendations and data gaps ................................................................................................. xvi Conclusions ................................................................................................................................ xvii Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................... xix NRCA Background Information ............................................................................................................ 1 Introduction and Resource Setting ......................................................................................................... 5 Park enabling legislation ................................................................................................................ 7 Geographic Setting ......................................................................................................................... 8 Park description ......................................................................................................................... 8 Land Use .................................................................................................................................... 8 Population .................................................................................................................................. 9 Climate .................................................................................................................................... 17 Visitation statistics................................................................................................................... 17 Natural resources .......................................................................................................................... 18 Geology ................................................................................................................................... 19 Soils ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Watershed/Waterways ............................................................................................................. 24 Wetlands .................................................................................................................................. 26 Flora ......................................................................................................................................... 27 Fauna ....................................................................................................................................... 32 Biodiversity ............................................................................................................................. 39 Rare, threatened, endangered species ...................................................................................... 39 Resource issues overview ............................................................................................................. 46 iii Contents (continued) Page Internal park threats ................................................................................................................. 46 Regional threats ....................................................................................................................... 52 Resource Stewardship .................................................................................................................. 54 Management directives and planning guidance....................................................................... 54 Status of supporting science .................................................................................................... 56 Study Scoping and Design ................................................................................................................... 61 Preliminary scoping and park involvement .................................................................................. 61 Study design ................................................................................................................................. 62 Reporting areas ........................................................................................................................ 62 Indicator framework ................................................................................................................ 62 General approach and methods ............................................................................................... 62 Thresholds ............................................................................................................................... 63 Data synthesis .......................................................................................................................... 63 Condition assessment calculations .......................................................................................... 63 Natural Resource Condition Assessment ............................................................................................