Wildflower phenology data recorded from 13 plots of 2 meter square, at The Purchase area and near Chimneys Picnic Area. Most data involve species in bloom and number of blooms per species per square, but other phenophases are also recorded on flowering and non-flowering plants for most plots. Chimneys Picnic Area data extends back to 2000, Purchase data to 2011 (previously certified).

Field Methods: I will sample salamanders at five locations within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Collections will take place during June 2015. D. quadramaculatus and D. marmoratus will be located by visually searching streams, stream edges, and beneath rocks within streams. All efforts will be made to minimize impact on the habitat. Each salamander found will be hand-captured and placed in a new, clean plastic bag with a small amount of water to keep their skin moist. Salamanders will then be measured with calipers for snout-vent length, tail length, and cranial length and width. An approximately 5 mm piece of tissue will be removed from the tail tip for use in genetic analyses. To minimize handling stress, salamander measurements and tissue collection will take place in the field, adjacent to capture sites, and salamanders will be released at their point of capture immediately afterwards.

This project focuses on red spruce (Picea rubens). How does forest fragmentation influence nutrient cycling? How do red spruce trees respond to phosphorous (P) limitation in these systems? If there is evidence for genetic variability in response to P limitation in these systems, it could provide clues to where refuges have evolutionary been found for this declining species. Red Spruce has historically been pushed up in elevation with its range becoming fragmented and limited to mountain tops at the southern range edge. This is of interest to scientists interested in effects of climate warming, i.e. expected pole-ward range shifts. Genetic diversity of populations at the southern end of this species’ range is consequently of importance to the persistence of this species. It was hypothesized in this study that habitat fragment size would influence growth traits. It was found that Red Spruce growth traits were not influenced by habitat fragment patch size (P > 0.05).

This dataset contains information on the survival of sagebrush seedlings originating from seed collected from 3 'local' populations over 2+ years. Datasets presented consist of individual seedling survival, growth and reproduction data as well as population level results as they relate to the differences in modeled and calculated climate variables and the differences between the climatic conditions of the seed source sites and the common garden sites.

This dataset contains information on the survival of sagebrush seedlings originating from seed collected from 3 'local' populations over 2+ years. Datasets presented consist of individual seedling survival, growth and reproduction data as well as population level results as they relate to the differences in modeled and calculated climate variables and the differences between the climatic conditions of the seed source sites and the common garden sites.

The GRSM exotic plants database is a multi-faceted, SQL-based database containing location and treatment information for the exotic invasive plant control program. The exotic plant site location information includes plant species treated, geospatial information (point and polygon), site directions, and site notes. The exotic plant treatment information includes treatment method, herbicide and adjuvant brands and amounts used, area treated, field notes, and employees present. The purpose of this database is to allow easy site re-location for multi-year treatments, easy treatment data sums and sorting for end of season and project-based reporting, tracking of long-term trends in exotic invasive species management, and to make exotic plant work scheduling more efficient. GRSM manages over 50 invasive exotic plant species in over 900 locations parkwide with treatments records in this database starting in 1994. The National Park Service has published these data as a stand-alone export from an enterprise database. While the nature of table relationships and primary/foreign keys is detailed in this document, the National Park Service cannot provide assitance or instruction in the use of propietary software in analyzing and manipulating these data. Users should consult their software documention for instructions on manipulating these data. These GIS data are companion to a NRDT database, and users should consult NRDT documentation for instructions on viewing these data (Dietrich CH. 2005. Natural Resource Database Template Core Tables Standard. National Park Service (NPS). Geospatial Dataset-1035640.) (https://irma.nps.gov/App/Reference/Profile/1035640)(http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/datamgmt/applications/template/index.cfm)

Andrews Meadow in the Loch Vale watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park. Sample Collection: Englemann spruce (Picea engelmannii) living on slopes surrounding and at the edge of Andrews meadow (Latitude 40˚ 17’ 24” N, Longitude 105˚ 40’ 01” W NAD83). At the time of collection, the climate-sensitive upland P. engelmannii trees were growing on well-drained slopes above the meadow. Seventeen trees, two cores per tree when possible, were collected using a 5mm-diameter increment borer. During sample collection, diameter at breast height (DBH) was also measured. These cores were processed following standard dendrochronological methods. The annual (TW) and earlywood (EW) ring-widths of each core were measured to 0.001mm precision using a Velmex stage and Tellervo measuring software. Visual crossdating was verified statistically using the ring-width measurements in the program COFECHA v.6.06P. Cores with breaks or rot precluding robust statistical crossdating were removed from further analysis. Final COFECHA statistics for TW indicate series intercorrelations of 0.544 and average mean sensitivity of 0.199. Final COFECHA statistics for EW indicate series intercorrelations of 0.546 and average mean sensitivity of 0.214. The tree-growth trend was removed using a negative exponential curve and the detrended ring-widths were then averaged and standardized for unitless site level standard chronologies (std) of TW and EW. Pre-whitened TW and EW chronologies (res) are the residuals from an autoregressive model (AR1) which removes year-to-year serial correlation commonly present in tree-ring series. The Earlywood record is begins at 1513 because it has been truncated to an acceptable Expressed Population Signal (EPS>0.85). The EPS is an arbitrary statistical threshold above which the chronology is deemed statistically acceptable for climate reconstruction.