CALMIT, Conservation
& Survey Division
University of Nebraska
Abstract: In 1994, the National Park Service (NPS)
established the Prairie Cluster Long Term Ecological Monitoring
(LTEM) Program as one of eleven prototypes to develop natural
resource monitoring within the NPS. The program’s stated goal
is to determine the extent to which species, communities, and
ecological processes are sustainable within small prairie parks.
Park ecosystems are affected by external and internal activities
and management decisions, which in turn lead to degradation of
water quality, loss of wildlife corridors and colonization
sources, invasion of exotic species, and visual intrusion.
Documenting changing land use patterns within and adjacent to
the parks will provide important information for monitoring the
stability of the terrestrial and aquatic prairie ecosystems.
This project will focus on three parks including Effigy Mounds
National Monument, IA, Pipestone National Monument, MN, and
Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, MO. A three-mile buffer
surrounding the parks will be used to delineate the study areas.
However, a fifty-mile buffer will be used for developing
regional datasets. Within the framework of a Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), the study will use recent and
historical aerial photography (1940’s, 1960s/1970s, and
1990s), and a variety of ancillary data sources to: (a) assess
direct loss of natural habitats by describing changes in aerial
extent, distribution, and connectivity, (b) describe land use
changes associated with habitat alteration, and (c) changes
associated with pressure from human activities. Deliverable
products will include (a) geostatistical information on the
extent, distribution, and fragmentation of natural and
semi-natural areas, (b) spatial and tabular change detection
statistics over the three time periods, (c) GIS coverage of
human structures and summary of density per square mile, (d)
identification/spatial representation of areas experiencing
rapid growth or change due to human actions, (e) analysis of
roads and drainage ditches as invasion corridors for exotic
species, (f) identification and analysis of water quality
impacts, (g) maps displaying combined threats against the parks,
(h) presentation quality map products of land use/land cover
distribution, (i) presentation quality map of products of
change, (j) digital copies of data and materials to be delivered
in Arc/Info format on CDs, and (k) a final report detailing the
study objectives, methods, results, analysis, and conclusions.
Funding Agency:
National Park Service
Modification #: GPCESU H6000A100F ($33,626)
Mod 0001 $5,000
Mod 0002, 0003 No Cost
Mod 0004 $3,825
$42,451
Effective Dates: 9/01/01 – 8/31/02. Extended to
5/31/04.
