Kipuka Vegetation Monitoring and Invasive Plant Treatments at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

Project ID: P21AC12350

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: Oregon State University

Fiscal Year: 2021

Initial Funding: $99,300

Total Funding: $99,300

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Biological

National Park: Craters of the Moon National Monument

Principal Investigator: Mata-Gonzalez, Ricardo

Agreement Technical Representative: Dicus, Gordon

Abstract:

Sagebrush steppe vegetation communities are believed to be one of the fastest degrading ecosystems in the west due to a variety of disturbances ranging from agriculture to wildfires. Although mostly covered by basalt lava flows, about 90% of the vegetation cover at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (CRMO) is comprised of sagebrush steppe vegetation. Native vegetation on the Snake River Plain, where CRMO is located, consists mostly of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and a variety of bunchgrasses. Widespread disturbances across much of the Snake River Plain including agriculture conversion and abandonment, grazing on private and public lands, and wildfires have resulted in largescale increases of invasive species such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), rush skeletonweed (Chondrilla juncea), and medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae). Areas converted to annual grasslands have altered fire regimes with much shorter fire return intervals than in the past, resulting in a positive feedback loop that accelerates further declines in native plant diversity and increases in invasive annual grass infestation.

Project Objectives

1. Establish permanent multi-quadrat sampling frames, as outlined by Yeo et al. (2009) and applied elsewhere in CRMO and other UCBN parks, to determine the status of native vegetation and of non-native plant invasion within the 45 high-priority kipukas.
2. Use the Ecologically-Based Invasive Plant Management (EBIPM) decision-making framework to determine appropriate invasive plant management strategies within selected kipukas, including protection of the most intact kipukas, and weed control and vegetation restoration in invaded kipukas.
3. Compare the composition of intact sagebrush steppe vegetation communities of the kipukas to the surrounding sagebrush-steppe vegetation of CRMO, drawing on the UCBN monitoring dataset that includes multiple non-kipuka sampling frames.
4. Implement and evaluate one or more invasive plant treatment actions (herbicide application where appropriate and hand pulling or hand tools where herbicide would be inappropriate). Implement and evaluate direct restoration when native material is available and this technique is appropriate.
5. Produce a final report summarizing the kipuka vegetation sampling, the results in terms of kipuka vegetation community composition and comparisons among high-priority kipukas, and invasive plant management recommendations.