Last updated: May 21, 2024
Article
Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring 2022 Data Summary for Canaveral National Seashore
Overview
Vegetation communities are dynamic entities influenced by environmental factors and impacts from natural and anthropogenic disturbances. The diversity of plants within the southeastern Coastal Plain contributes to a range of ecological services, provides habitat and resources to an array of wildlife, and functions as nature’s backdrop—usually the primary visual cue pulling us toward an appreciation of the outdoors. Determining trends in vegetation communities over time and identifying plant stressors is therefore vital to understanding the ecological health of terrestrial ecosystems within Southeast Coast Network (SECN) parks. Collectively, this information can be used to guide management actions that sustain a park’s ecological integrity and support plant conservation across a diversity of spatial scales for generations to come.
Methods
The Southeast Coast Network collects long-term data on terrestrial vegetation within its parks using a peer-reviewed protocol similar to other NPS Inventory and Monitoring networks in the eastern U.S. and is modeled after the approach used to describe natural vegetation in the Southeast developed by the Carolina Vegetation Survey. Permanent plots are used as the sample unit to determine a site’s (1) vascular plant richness and abundance for all native and non-native species; (2) basal area, density and health for all woody species; (3) density of forest floor fuels; (4) community level disturbance events, including presence of insect pests and disease; and (5) abiotic condition (e.g., landform shape, soil nutrients, canopy coverage and height). Plots are randomly located across broadly defined habitat types within SECN parks. Our sampling effort focuses on dominant (> 30% coverage) habitat types within these parks, but when time and resources allow, the sampling effort is increased to include less dominant types. The 2019 Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring Protocol provides detailed descriptions of field and data processing techniques used by the Southeast Coast Network.
Study Area
Canaveral National Seashore (CANA) is close to 24,000 hectares (59,000 acres) along the Atlantic Coast of Florida, stretching for 39 kilometers (24 miles) from New Smyrna Beach to Titusville. The Seashore was created in 1975 by Congress and included lands that were part of John F. Kennedy Space Center and Apollo Beach State Park. Terrestrial vegetation communities in the park are typical of Atlantic Coast Florida and include coastal dunes dominated by grasses; coastal strand and scrub dominated by shrubs and low-statured trees; coastal and mesic hammocks dominated by live oak (Quercus virginiana) or cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto), open-spaced pine (Pinus sp)-dominated flatwoods, hardwood swamps, and an array of tidal and non-tidal marshes dominated by graminoids or mangroves. This protocol was first implemented in Canaveral National Seashore in 2022, and these data represent the baseline status of vegetation and associated abiotic elements from the following broadly defined habitats of the park: Upland Open Woodlands and Upland Forests/Shrublands. Fourteen plots were established in April 2022 across two subunits, Apollo Beach and Oak Hill (see map).
Significant Findings
Site and Environmental Factors
The natural vegetation communities of Canaveral National Seashore are strongly influenced by tidal fluctuations, prevailing ocean winds, and sedimentation from rivers. Strong storm events and highly saline environments affect the distribution of plants across the park’s landscape, impacting the mosaic of marsh, forest, shrubland, and upland open grassland habitats. Furthermore, vegetation diversity is largely influenced by complex edaphic factors and their associated relationships with site hydrology and disturbance patterns (e.g., fire, storms). These wide-ranging environmental conditions were observed in the soil, hydrology and disturbance data collected from these vegetation plots. Upland Open Woodlands of the Oak Hill Unit occurred on flat slopes and had acidic soil. The primary threat observed in this habitat type was the absence of fire—a natural ecological phenomenon that promotes tree regeneration and increases biodiversity. Edaphic conditions were highly variable within Upland Forests and Shrubland habitats; plots that had higher soil pH values (alkaline) were located on sites with high concentration of shell deposits mixed with the soil substrate.
Vegetation
One hundred and seventy-six plant species were observed across all plots, including seven taxa not detected in previous plant surveys. Overall plot level plant richness ranged from 18 to 34 species within Open Upland Woodland habitat and 19 to 63 species within Upland Forest and Shrubland habitat. Diversity was highest in the tree stratum of both habitat types. Non-native species were frequent across plots within Upland Forest and Shrubland habitat and included four species ranked as invasive by the Florida Invasive Species Council. Brazilian peppertree (Schinus terebinthifolia) was observed in 60% of plots of this habitat type and was one of most dominant woody species within the seedling strata within these sites.
Other Findings
- The species listed as Endangered by the state of Florida were encountered on the park during this monitoring effort and included hand fern (Cheiroglossa palmata) and Atlantic Coast Florida lantana (Lantana depressa var. floridana).
- Slash pine (Pinus elliottii) or South Florida slash pine (Pinus densa) and sand live oak (Quercus geminata) were the most dominant species within the tree stratum of Upland Open Woodlands within the park; cabbage palmetto and live oak were the most dominant species of Upland Forests and Shrublands, although 11 other species large enough to be measured as trees were also present within these plots.
- All plots are scheduled to be resampled in spring/summer 2026.
Full Report
Terrestrial Vegetation Monitoring at Canaveral National Seashore 2022 Data Summary
About the Southeast Coast Network
In 1999, the National Park Service initiated a long-term ecological monitoring program, known as “Vital Signs Monitoring,” to provide the minimum infrastructure to allow more than 270 national park system units to identify and implement long-term monitoring of their highest-priority measurements of resource condition. The overarching purpose of natural resource monitoring in parks is to develop scientifically sound information on the current status and long-term trends in the composition, structure, and function of park ecosystems, and to determine how well current management practices are sustaining those ecosystems.
The NPS Vital Signs Monitoring Program addresses five goals for all parks with significant natural resources:
- Determine the status and trends in selected indicators of the condition of park ecosystem,
- Provide early warning of abnormal conditions,
- Provide data to better understand the dynamic nature and condition of park ecosystems,
- Provide data to meet certain legal and Congressional mandates, and
- Provide a means of measuring progress towards performance goals.
The Southeast Coast Network (SECN) includes eighteen administrative areas containing twenty park units, fifteen of which contain significant and diverse natural resources. In total, SECN parks encompass more than 184,000 acres of federally-managed land across North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida. The parks span a wide diversity of cultural missions, including four national seashores, two national historic sites, two national memorials, six national monuments, two national military parks, as well as a national recreation area, national battlefield, national historical park, and an ecological and historic preserve. The parks range in size from slightly more than 20 to nearly 60,000 acres, and when considered with non-federal lands jointly managed with the National Park Service, the network encompasses more than 253,000 acres.
For More Information
SECN Home Page
(https://www.nps.gov/im/secn/index.htm)
SECN Reports and Publications
(https://www.nps.gov/im/secn/reports-publications.htm)
NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program
(https://www.nps.gov/im/index.htm)
Data Downloads via the Natural Resource Information Portal
(https://irma.nps.gov/portal/)