Sierra Nevada Network

Monitoring: Vital Signs

Thirteen Vital Signs: Non-native Plants

Yellow star thistle is highly invasive and has been widely dispersed throughout California as a result of human presence. Flowering head photo by Jo-Ann Ordano, © California Academy of Sciences; inset photo by Jerry Asher, Bureau of Land Management.

Below is more detailed information on the thirteen vital signs that the Sierra Nevada Network will pursue for protocol development. Several Vital Signs are grouped according to the wider ecosystem being studied. Current sampling designs and protocols are found in the Sierra Nevada Network: Vital Signs Monitoring Plan (2007).

Abbreviations:
SIEN   Sierra Nevada Network
DEPO  Devils Postpile National Monument
SEKI    Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park
YOSE   Yosemite National Park

Non-native Plants
Vital Signs: non-native plants.

Justification: Invasive non-native plants can bring about significant changes in ecosystems by changing structural attributes of native plant communities (physiognomy, species composition, genetic diversity) and the processes that support them (fire, nutrient cycling, hydrology, soil erosion, decomposition). There are over 200 non-native plant taxa in Sierra Nevada Network parks, and new introductions continue to occur. Many of these taxa are invasive, or a threat to native plant and animal communities—they compete for space and resources, and often do not meet the same habitat needs of animals as do native plants. However, vast areas of the Network parks are free of invasive plants, and the highest invasive plant management priority for each of the parks is to prevent new introductions to these weed-free areas, to detect new introductions early in the invasion process, and to provide rapid eradication response. This protocol will provide parks with a systematic, efficient procedure for detecting new introductions.

Parks: DEPO, SEKI, YOSE

Monitoring Objectives:

1. Periodically review park weed management databases and update NPSpecies with new taxa not yet vouchered and documented. From NPSpecies, update each park’s non-native species list, using a defined set of criteria for inclusion, and evaluate changes.
2. Create and periodically update a “watch list” of species that are not present in the parks but are known to exist in the region or to have the potential to become problematic in the region.
3. Create and periodically update early detection monitoring priorities for species in the non-native and watch lists using a transparent, documented system.
4. Compile and periodically update polygons of weed-free areas, high-value resources areas, and naturally-disturbed areas, from a defined set of criteria, using existing information.
5. Within the polygons defined in Objective 4, detect (1) watch-list species and (2) new populations of priority species already present in the parks through either (a) complete search/census, or (b) sampling within search frames narrowed by selection criteria based on vectors, environmental factors, and other susceptibility measures.

Expand scope of personnel searching for watch-list species by developing SOPs and training materials to be included in other I&M protocols, in wilderness ranger duties, and in other park staff and volunteer efforts as appropriate.

Current planning status is found in the Sierra Nevada Network: Vital Signs Monitoring Plan (2007).

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