Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring at Fort Pulaski National Monument: 2023 Data Summary—Cycle 2

Boyle, M.; Davis, Mallorie

doi:10.36967/2319475

Parks within the Southeast Coast Network (SECN) host a diverse assemblage of terrestrial vegetation communities. Monitoring long-term changes in vegetation and identifying threats is vital to understanding the ecological health of ecosystems within SECN parks. The sampling unit for monitoring vegetation within SECN parks is a 20 × 20-meter (65.6 × 65.6 feet [ft]) plot. The current data summary report describes the status of several plot elements from Fort Pulaski National Monument (Fort Pulaski NM, “the monument”) in 2023 and represents the second iteration of monitoring. Baseline data were collected in summer 2019; 12 vegetation plots were established across two broad habitats of the monument (tidal wetlands and upland forest/shrublands). Each plot was resampled in 2023. Across all 12 plots sampled in 2023, 67 vascular plant taxa were detected. There were six species present in the 2023 plots not on previous park taxa lists, including the invasive common reed (Phragmites australis) and common sow-thistle (Sonchus oleraceus). Two of the 67 taxa observed within these monitoring plots are listed as rare within the state of Georgia: white spikerush (Eleocharis albida) and Florida-privet (Forestiera segregata). Basal area (m2/ha [square meters per hectare]) of live southern red cedar (Juniperus silicicola) increased between 2019 and 2023 but slightly decreased for all other canopy-forming species. Sugarberry (Celtis laevigata) trees were observed with decreased vigor across the monument, and 25% of these trees that were alive in 2019 were dead in 2023. It remains uncertain whether the observed mortality and reduced vigor of sugarberry within these vegetation plots of Fort Pulaski NM are associated with the unknown agent (e.g., insects, fungi) believed to be causing regional decline in this species. A vegetation health scorecard was developed for each of the monument’s broad habitat types using plot elements such as native diversity, invasive species presence and abundance, canopy growth and mortality rates, canopy-forming species recruitment density, presence of disturbance and threats, and fuel load volume.

Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring at Fort Pulaski National Monument: 2023 Data Summary—Cycle 2

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