NCCN Elk LEWI Monitoring Data Package, 2008-2024

Description

This data package contains elk monitoring data collected under the auspices of the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN) Inventory and Monitoring Program during 2008-2024 at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI). The monitoring protocol, publications, and all other associated links can be found in the project reference at: NCCN Monitoring Elk Ground (Lewis and Clark National Historical Park), https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2182083 Monitoring was initiated to track Roosevelt elk seasonal use and visitor viewing opportunities in and around the Fort Clatsop unit of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (LEWI). The preservation of elk herds that frequent LEWI is central to the park’s purpose, “to preserve … the historic, cultural, scenic, and natural resources associated with the arrival of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the lower Columbia River area, and … commemorating the culmination and the winter encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the winter of 1805-1806 …” (Public Law 108-387). Today, elk viewing opportunities in the park and surrounding Clatsop Plains region generate broad appeal with the visiting public. Elk range widely outside of park boundaries where habitat conditions are affected by urbanization, forest management, and agricultural practices, and where populations and behaviors of elk are influenced by hunting patterns, other human disturbance factors, and habitat change. Staff at LEWI have used data generated by elk monitoring to build community partnerships, to highlight regional habitat and land use planning effects on park resources, and to inform regional discussions of policies that may influence the park’s elk population. The primary monitoring objectives of the protocol are to measure the relative use and proportion of area used by elk during winter in the Fort Clatsop Unit of the park, and the rate at which elk are sighted from roads in and around the Fort Clatsop unit of . Relative use and the proportion of area used by elk are determined from annual elk fecal pellet surveys, wherein pairs of observers visit a systematic array of permanent plots in the fall to clear them of elk fecal pellets, and return to the plots in late winter to count elk fecal pellets that have accumulated during winter. Standardized road surveys are conducted in and near the Fort Clatsop park unit three or four times monthly during alternate months, where two observers drive four routes to record numbers of elk, location, and composition of each group observed. Data from road surveys are used to provide an index of elk viewing opportunities for park visitors along the selected set of routes.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
55 EML Metadata https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/744244?Reference=2314213
8 Pellet survey grid point location information https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/744241?Reference=2314213
8 Pellet survey data including survey conditions and covariate data. Includes fall surveys from 2008 through 2010 before these were consolidated into separate clearing surveys and full dual observer data collection was limited to winter surveys https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/744240?Reference=2314213
8 Driving survey data for all survey dates and routes. Excludes duplicate observations and survey events not meeting inclusion criteria (i.e., four completed routes for a given day). Where Is_excluded=False and Duplicate_obs=False or is Null https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/744236?Reference=2314213
8 Seasonal status matrix for pellet survey grid points, showing whether Fall or Winter surveys were conducted for a given point and pellet year https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/744243?Reference=2314213
8 Vegetation species list with cover and browse level observational data within plots recorded during pellet surveys https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/744242?Reference=2314213
8 All elk group observations made during driving surveys, filtered to remove duplicate observations of the same group on the same survey day. Includes data from survey events not meeting inclusion criteria. Where Elk_Seen='Y' and Duplicate_obs=False https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/744237?Reference=2314213
8 Driving survey route and mile marker coordinates https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/744238?Reference=2314213
8 Fall pellet clearing survey data. Fall survey data collected prior to 2011 were collected using the same methods as late winter surveys, and are stored and managed together with winter survey data https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/DownloadFile/744239?Reference=2314213

Tags

  • ecology
  • ungulate
  • astoria
  • inventory-and-monitoring
  • roosevelt-elk
  • cervus-elaphus
  • cervid
  • biota
  • species
  • wildlife
  • terrestrial-ecosystems
  • surveys
  • elk
  • double-observer
  • mammals
  • biology
  • habitats
  • vertebrates
  • tabular-data
  • lewis-and-clark-national-historical-park
  • lewi
  • trend
  • warrenton
  • monitoring
  • washington
  • populations
  • ecological-framework-biological-integrity-focal-species-or-communities-mammals
  • north-coast-and-cascades-network
  • resource-management
  • nccn
  • oregon

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