Natural Resource Monitoring at Minute Man NHP

Two paddlers make their way down the Concord River.

Johnida Dockens

 

Overview

The decade-long political feud between the British government and the American colonists, determined to retain their rights as British subjects, came to a devastating climax as British regulars clashed with colonial militia and minute men on April 19, 1775 at Lexington, Concord's North Bridge and on the long, bloody road back to Boston. The fighting that began that day soon grew into a war for independence that lasted more than eight years. Many years later, Ralph Waldo Emerson used the phrase the shot heard round the world to describe the significance of this event.

Minute Man National Historical Park encompasses 1,038 acres distributed in four distinct units located approximately 15 miles northwest of Boston, Massachusetts. The Concord River flows through the North Bridge Unit, while Route 2A traverses Battle Road Unit. The Wayside Unit preserves a home of authors including the Alcotts and Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Barrett Farm Unit preserves the home of Colonel James Barrett, Commander of the Middlesex Militia. His farm was a key target of the British expedition on April 19th, 1775.

The park supports a variety of habitats. Forests are dominant, covering approximately 500 acres of the park, including about 200 acres of forested wetland. Non-forested wetlands, including several ponds, cover approximately 180 acres. Meadows and fields cover an additional 250 acres, including approximately 100 acres farmed under the park's agricultural leasing program. Shrubland also is present at the park, particularly at the interface of fields and forests. Developed areas, including roads, parking lots, and buildings, cover the remainder of the park.

 

Long-term Monitoring Programs

Air Quality	Invasive Species Early Detection
Breeding Landbirds	Phenology
Climate	Water Quality
Forest Health

 

Air Quality Reports

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Source: Data Store Saved Search 1187. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

 

Breeding Landbird Reports

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Source: Data Store Saved Search 2272. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

 

Forest Health Monitoring Reports

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Source: Data Store Saved Search 1189 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

 

Invasive Species Reports

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Source: Data Store Saved Search 1458. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

 

Water Quality Reports

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Source: Data Store Saved Search 1103. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

 

Park Species Lists

Species lists are available from NPSpecies, the National Park Service's tool for documenting park biodiversity. Keep in mind that these species lists are a work-in-progress. Changes and updates are made as more species are shepherded through a rigorous vetting process. The absence of a species from a list produced with the tool below doesn't necessarily mean the species is absent from a park.

 

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

Select a Park:

Minute Man National Historical Park

Select a Species Category (optional):

All Amphibians Birds Fish Mammals Reptiles Vascular Plants

Get Checklist Get Full List List Differences

Species attribute definitions

Search results will be displayed here.

Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.

 

Non NPS Citizen Science Opportunities in the Park

Bird observations from eBird

Minute Man NHP has been set up in eBird as a birding "hotspot". Help the park bolster bird data by adding your bird obsevations to eBird when you visit the park. To view recent and historical bird observations in the park, cick here.

Species observations from iNaturalist

Learn how you can contribute to iNaturalist

View Minute Man NHP data on iNaturalist website