National Park Service

 

Date of this Version

3-2020

Citation

Natural Resource Report NPS/HTLN/NRR 2020/2091 / NPS 368/167213, March 2020, v, 10 pages

Editing and design by Tani Hubbard

Published by the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science, Fort Collins, Colorado

Also available at: https://www.nps.gov/im/htln/index.htm

https://www.nps.gov/im/publication-series.htm

Please cite this publication as:

Young, C. C. 2020. Problematic plant monitoring in Homestead National Monument of America: 2006–2017. Natural Resource Report NPS/HTLN/NRR—2020/2091. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Comments

United States government work. Public domain material.

Abstract

Abstract

Managers are challenged with the impact of problematic plants, including exotic, invasive, and pest plant species. Information on the abundance, distribution, and location of these plants is essential for developing risk-based approaches to managing these species. Based on surveys conducted in 2006, 2009, 2013, and 2017, Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network staff and contractors identified a cumulative total of 20 potentially problematic plant species in Homestead National Monument of America (NMA). Of the 13 species found in 2017, we characterized 4 as very low frequency, 4 as low frequency, 2 as medium frequency, and 3 as high frequency. Only a single species, smooth brome, exceeded a 10-acre threshold. Three of the four most abundant species were invasive grasses: Kentucky bluegrass, reed canarygrass, and smooth brome. Reed canarygrass, which occurs predominantly in the woodlands has colonized wet depressions within the prairie. We recommend control of this species in those locations. Garlic mustard continues to be an early invader that requires annual control to prevent further spread. Oriental bittersweet and Morrow’s honeysuckle are additional strong candidates for successful eradication from Homestead NMA.

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