The Appalachian Trail MEGA-Transect Engaging volunteers in environmental monitoring from MEGAMaine to Georgia The Appalachian Trail Conservancy is a volunteer-based, private nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of the 2,175-mile Appalachian National Scenic Trail, a 250,000-acre greenway extending from Maine to Georgia. Through a formal cooperative agreement, the National Park Service delegated responsibilities specific to the maintenance and protection of the A.T. to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Editors: Caroline Dufour, Elizabeth Crisfield Contributors: Laura Belleville (ATC) Tonnie Maniero (NPS) Jim Renfro (NPS) Rick Bonney (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) Jeff Marion (USGS, Patuxent Wildlife David Reus (NPS ATPO) Doug Burns (USGS) Research Center) Keith Robinson (USGS, NH-VT Water James Comiskey (NPS) Christopher Mattrick (White Mountain Science Center) Fred Dieffenbach (NPS I&M Northeast National Forest) Matt Robinson (ATC) Temperate Network) Hawk Metheny (Appalachian Mountain Susan Sachs (Great Smoky Mountains Sam Droege (USGS, Patuxent Wildlife Club) National Park) Research Center) Marcia McNiff (USGS) Nick Salafsky (Foundations of Success) Joan Ehrenfeld (Rutgers University) George Minnigh (Great Smoky Mountains Holly Salazar (NPS) Alan Ellsworth (NPS) National Park) Chuck Sams (USFS) Ivan Fernandez (University of Maine at Brian Mitchell (NPS, Northeast Temperate Scott Schlarbaum (University of Orono) Network) Tennessee) David Field (Maine Appalachian Trail Club) Roger Moore (NC State Univ., ATC) Kent Schwarzkopf (NPS ATPO) Mary Frye (USFS) Nora Murdock (NPS) Jennifer Shirk (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) Robert Fuller (North Georgia College & Georgia Murray (Appalachian Mountain Greg Shriver (University of Delaware) State Univ.) Club) Morgan Sommerville (ATC) Mark Hall (NatureServe) Sarah Nelson (Univ. of Maine, Mitchell Mark Stanley (Piedmont A.T. Hikers) Pete Irvine (USFS) Center) Matt Stevens (ATC) Beth Johnson (NPS) Shawn Norton (WASO/NPS) Ken Stolte (USFS) John Jones (USGS) Mari Omland (ATC) Julie Thomas (NPS) Steve Kahl (Center for the Environment) Donald Owen (NPS ATPO) Geraldine Tierney (State University of New Ken Kimball (Appalachian Mountain Club) John Peine (University of TN in Knoxville, York) Daniel Lambert (Vermont Institute of USGS) Hague Vaughan (Environment Canada) Natural Science) Robert Proudman (ATC) Y.Q. Wang (University of Rhode Island) Keith Langdon (Great Smoky Mountains Michelle Prysby (Virginia Cooperative Rick Webb (University of Virginia) National Park) Extension) Doug Weihrauch (Appalachian Mountain Ronald Litwin (USGS) Casey Reese (NPS ATPO) Club) Citation: Dufour, Caroline and Elizabeth Crisfield, Eds. The Appalachian Trail MEGA-Transect. Harpers Ferry, WV: Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 2008. Cover image: The A.T. overlaid on a January 1994 composite NASA MODIS satellite image. IMAGE: Elizabeth Crisfield Back-cover image: The A.T. overlaid on a nighttime satellite image. IMAGE: Casey Reese (NPS) Appalachian Trail Conservancy Appalachian National Scenic Trail Primary funding for this report was P.O. Box 807 Park Office provided by the U.S. Geological Survey. 799 Washington Street P.O. Box 50 Harpers Ferry, WV 25425-0807 Harpers Ferry, WV 25425 Views expressed do not necessarily www.appalachiantrail.org/MEGA www.nps.gov/APPA represent the views of the USGS. Engaging volunteers in environmental monitoring from Maine to Georgia The Appalachian Trail MEGA-Transect PHOTO: Timothy Cummings, Pochuck Boardwalk, New Jersey Our mission is to establish the Appalachian Trail MEGA-Transect to monitor and understand changes in the environment to effectively manage natural resources, foster an appreciation for nature and conservation, and “tell the story” of the health of the Appalachian Trail and surrounding lands to visitors, neighbors, and the American public. The goals of the Appalachian Trail MEGA-Transect are to: Monitor – Collect new and existing data on key indicators of environmental health with citizen scientists, organizations, researchers, and agencies Understand – Transform data into knowledge about the status and trends through analysis, synthesis, and modeling Inform and Engage – Share this knowledge to engage, educate, and involve decision makers, stakeholders and the American public in managing and protecting the A.T. environment. Seek to attain the goals of existing natural resource and environmental legislation and make sound decisions for positive change. PHOTO: George Evans, Appalachian Trail near Cheoah Bald, North Carolina Contents Background 1 Citizen Science 3 Forest Health 5 Invasive Plants 9 Rare, Threatened & Endangered Species 11 Mountain Birds 15 Seasonal Life Cycles 17 Landscapes 19 Water 21 Air Quality 25 Visitor Impacts 27 Future Directions & Challenges 29 Further Reading 30 MEGA-Transect Partners 31 Background Scientists often use a transect to systematically The A.T. MEGA-Transect program will collect collect data on species or environmental conditions scientifically valid and relevant data on the health across a landscape. Coined by National Geographic’s of the landscape and the species it harbors. This Explorer-in-Residence, Michael Fay, the term mega- data will not only help land managers make better transect describes a transect at a continental decisions, it will also give the American public and scale that records a whole suite of environmental policy-makers the information necessary to protect variables. their community resources and reach the goals of current environmental legislation. The Appalachian Trail and its surrounding 250,000 acres of protected lands are a priceless ecological In the following pages, we lay out the broad resource. A.T. lands harbor rare, threatened, and categories of environmental variables that A.T. MEGA- endangered species, encompass important water Transect partners are committed to studying, we resources, and shelter wildlife. The Trail’s north-south explain why they are relevant to all residents of the alignment across 14 states represents a cross-section eastern U.S., and explore how they can be studied of the eastern United States and offers a perfect and potentially acted upon. setting for a mega-transect. Because of the magnitude of this project, volunteer Threats to the environment of the Appalachian engagement is vital to this effort. Citizen scientists Trail—from encroaching development, acid rain, will play an active role, participating in monitoring invasive species, polluted water, and climate activities and providing policy-makers, scientists change—represent threats to the health of everyone and land managers with the data needed to further downwind and downstream of the A.T., roughly protect the Trail. Interested individuals can track one-third of the U.S. population. This makes the and sign up for volunteer opportunities via the Trail and its protected corridor an ideal indicator for Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s web site, or by environmental conditions that directly affect more contacting [email protected]. than 120 million Americans. This global view of the A.T. (red line) is shown on a 2002 NASA composite image from the Terra satellite. IMAGE: Elizabeth Crisfield The Appalachian Trail MEGA-Transect 1 www.appalachiantrail.org/MEGA Engaging citizen scientists will allow us to gather large amounts of data at the scale of the entire Trail quickly and affordably, and to involve the American public in the environmental stewardship of eastern North America. Citizen Science The Appalachian Trail is grounded in volunteerism, As was the case for the creation of the Trail and for from its founding and construction by Benton its continued maintenance, volunteers are crucial to MacKaye, Myron Avery, and the thousands of the monitoring and protection of the Trail’s resources. outdoor enthusiasts they enlisted, to its continued Research scientists alone could never hope to fully maintenance by their followers. To this day, volunteer investigate and understand the air quality, bird Trail Clubs collectively contribute nearly 200,000 populations, and other environmental indicators hours of labor each year maintaining the Trail. on the Trail’s continental scale without the help of knowledgeable and enthusiastic volunteers. After seeing the entire 2,000+ mile treadway established in the 1930s, MacKaye prophetically Successful citizen science projects: suggested amateur naturalists could lead an • actively involve the public, often as data investigation of Trail ecology. Some 75 years later, collectors, but sometimes as principal the A.T. MEGA-Transect initiative takes this vision a investigators step further by inviting volunteers to explore the • involve professional scientists in order to ensure health of the Appalachian Trail environment. that the data gathered will be meaningful and Involving volunteers in gathering data for real and useful meaningful scientific endeavors not only serves as • are designed to be educational and to increase a means for awareness-building and outreach, it is public awareness and understanding of the study also a way to gather large amounts of data quickly system and of science in general. with limited costs. Citizen science has contributed successfully to projects as varied as monitoring water quality, studying diseases in bird populations, conducting inventories of all the species in national park units, and tracking butterfly migrations. Natural Heritage Program training on Saddleback Mountain, Maine. Program volunteers monitor the health of rare plant populations.