National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Calcareous Glade Monitoring at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Final Report—Third Sampling of Baseline Transects Established in 1993 Natural Resource Report NPS/CUPN/NRR—2021/2239 The production of this document cost $53,732, including costs associated with data collection, processing, analysis, and subsequent authoring, editing, and publication. ON THE COVER Leavenworthia exigua var. exigua, an endemic special concern species characteristic of cedar glades at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. Photo by Tom Govus. Calcareous Glade Monitoring at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Final Report—Third Sampling of Baseline Transects Established in 1993 Natural Resource Report NPS/CUPN/NRR—2021/2239 Thomas E. Govus1 and Bill J. Moore2 1Independent Botanist/Vegetation Ecologist 3711 Big Creek Road Elijay, Georgia 30536 2National Park Service Ecologist/Data Manager Cumberland Piedmont Network P.O. Box 8 Mammoth Cave, Kentucky 42259 March 2021 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. 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Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U.S. Government. This report is available from the Cumberland Piedmont Network website 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: Govus, T. E., and B. J. Moore. 2021. Calcareous glade monitoring at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park: Final report—third sampling of baseline transects established in 1993. Natural Resource Report NPS/CUPN/NRR—2021/2239. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/nrr-2284881. NPS 301/175135, March 2021 ii Contents Page Figures.................................................................................................................................................... v Tables ..................................................................................................................................................... v Appendices ........................................................................................................................................... vii Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. ix Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. xi Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Methods .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Glade Species Lists......................................................................................................................... 3 Baseline Monitoring ....................................................................................................................... 3 Woody Cover............................................................................................................................. 4 Ground Cover ............................................................................................................................ 5 Herb Density .............................................................................................................................. 5 Follow up Taxonomic Issues Relating to the 1993 Data ................................................................ 6 Photomonitoring procedures .......................................................................................................... 7 Results of the Third Round of Sampling ............................................................................................... 9 Change in Large Woody Cover Greater Than or Equal to 1 meter (3.3 ft) .................................. 10 Change in Plant Density Summary Results .................................................................................. 16 Discussions and Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 21 Woody Cover................................................................................................................................ 21 Plant Density ................................................................................................................................ 22 Exotic Species .............................................................................................................................. 24 Management ................................................................................................................................. 25 Future Sampling ........................................................................................................................... 26 Literature Cited .................................................................................................................................... 29 iii Figures Page Figure 1. General location of glades sampled for woody cover; some were further divided by Sutter et al. (1994) into separate glades for monitoring purposes (i.e., glade 3A and 3B) ................................................................................................................................................. 10 Figure 2. Glade means for percent woody cover for eight of the highest cover species. Red line is mean across glades ............................................................................................................. 13 Figure 3. General location of glades sampled for plant density measurements. ................................. 17 Figure 4. Sum total change in characteristic glade species densities over three sampling intervals at Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park .................................................... 23 Figure 5. A baseline photograph of glade 24A showing degraded condition, particularly encroachment by Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense). ........................................................................ 26 Tables Page Table 1. Baseline length, segment (i.e., interval in which monitoring transects were randomly placed), number of monitoring transects, and combined monitoring transect length...................................................................................................................................................... 4 Table 2. Percent change in total woody cover summed across species from 1993 to 2006- 2008 and 1993 to 2019 in monitored glades on Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. ....................................................................................................................................... 12 Table 3. Glade minimum and maximum percent woody cover for eight of the highest cover species by sampling session. ...................................................................................................... 13 Table 4. 2019 Percent cover values for select high cover species greater than or equal to 1 meter (3.3 ft) showing the glade mean value for each sample glade. ............................................... 14 Table 5. Difference in percent woody cover, comparing 1993 and 2019 values ................................ 15 Table 6. Characteristic glade species 1993 density (individuals per square meter) and subsequent change in density based on 2019 survey results ................................................................ 19 Table 7. Plant density values (plants/m²) of characteristic glade species averaged across