Strategies for Long-Term Monitoring of Riverscour Plant Communities to Inform Science-Based Management

Understanding the condition of natural resources in protected areas is fundamental to their management and preservation. Long-term monitoring can provide crucial data for managers prioritize actions subsequently determine effectiveness. In five national park units eastern United States, National Park Service Inventory Monitoring Program monitors rare riverscour communities—open habitats which sun-loving plants grow over rocky substrates along high-gradient streams. Based on a decade experience, we present recommendations communities including sampling methodology, collection methods, subsequent actions. Given increasing stressors from changing climate, invasive species, altered hydrology, understanding how are increasingly important protection.