Stephanie J Perles

Condition of Vegetation Communities in Fort Necessity National Battlefield and Friendship Hill National Historic Site: Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network Summary Report 2007?2009 Stephanie J Perles

Beginning in 2007, the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network (ERMN) of the National Park Service (NPS) began monitoring vegetation communities and soil in eight of its nine parks. The objective of this monitoring program is to provide information on the condition of the parks? vegetation and soil and how this condition is changing through time. Permanent long-term monitoring plots have been established in Fort Necessity National Battlefield (FONE, 15 plots) and Friendship Hill National Historic Site (FRHI, 15 plots). Within the permanent plots, data are collected on forest stand structure; tree health, growth, and mortality; tree regeneration; coarse woody debris; shrubs; groundstory diversity; invasive species; and soil. The last panel of plots will be established in 2010, and in 2011 the first panel of plots will be revisited, providing data on how vegetation is changing through time.