Grassland Vegetation Monitoring Data for the Southern Plains Network (SOPN): 2022-2024 — Data Package (INTERNAL)

In the Great Plains, native grasslands have been lost or degraded to an alarming degree. They have been converted to agricultural land and urban areas, their hydrology has been altered, and they have lost function and biodiversity due to overgrazing, land fragmentation, fire suppression, and exotic species invasion. By 1997, researchers had already estimated that the loss of native prairie ranges from 80 to 99.9%, with the greatest losses occurring in the tallgrass prairie and oak savanna communities. Furthermore, only 71% of shortgrass prairie and 59% of mixed grass prairie were estimated to remain at that time. Changes in vegetation communities can lead to subsequent changes in faunal communities and natural processes. Land fragmentation can increase the chances of exotic plant species invasion and alter landscape-scale processes including species immigration and emigration in grasslands. Exotic plants can greatly alter ecosystem processes and displace native communities. Moreover, even native woody species such as Eastern red cedar, mesquite, Ashe juniper, pinion pine and juniper represent a threat as they invade/encroach and convert native grasslands to wood- and shrublands.

Grassland vegetation is the most widespread vegetation type occurring in the Southern Plains Inventory & Monitoring Network (SOPN). The parks at SOPN are dominated by mid- and shortgrass prairies that have been impacted by grazing, fire suppression, agriculture and invasive species. Individual restoration efforts of varying techniques and duration have been employed in the past in most of these parks with mixed results, and monitoring of these efforts has been minimal. This grassland vegetation monitoring protocol has been developed to inform park management of the status and trends of the overall health of their grasslands and to provide information on the effectiveness of restoration efforts.

Long-term ecological monitoring, while contributing to our empirical understanding of prairie communities, is integral to the proper management and protection of the lands entrusted to the National Park Service. Park resource managers require an effective plant community monitoring protocol to assess management strategy success in maintaining and/or restoring prairie plant community composition, structure, and diversity. Our monitoring strategy attempts to balance the immediate needs of managers for current information and the need for insight into the changes occurring in vegetation communities over time.