Post-treatment Assessment of Floodplain plant communities and Channel form

archived

Canyon de Chelly National Monument (CACH) has a critical need to evaluate the condition of floodplain vegetation and stream channel form to better manage native plant communities, road-stream crossings, and balance the needs of canyon residents for the long-term goal of preserving cultural and ecological resources in the canyon.We will use existing data sets collected in 2005-2008 and new 2019 field data to assess the condition of the stream channel, native vegetation, and re-invasion of exotic plants in four exotic plant removal study sites (#3-6 in Figure 2) established in 2005. We will address the following questions: 1. How has the channel changed (narrowed or widened, incised or aggraded) in treatment areas since 2008? 2. How has the vegetation changed in the treatment plots, especially native plant cover? 3. Have tamarisk and Russian olive reinvaded areas where they were removed? Have other exotic plants invaded the treatment areas?

High