A vegetation monitoring study was conducted from 1998 to 2013 at Camp Grafton South (CGS) in Eddy County, North Dakota to assess how climatic, grazing, and military training disturbance affects plant community composition. The objectives of this study were to 1) describe the prairie vegetation at CGS across three topographic positions and 2) explore any shifts in plant community composition in correlation with time. Frequency data was collected at 45 randomly selected transects on lowland, midland, and upland grassland plant communities on native prairie. Plant communities were compared using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS) ordination. NMS ordination showed that the three plant communities were distinct from one another, and that the frequency of the invasive graminoids Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) and smooth brome (Bromus inermis Leyss.) increased. Increases in precipitation, temperature, and growing season days appear to be the primary influence on the changes in plant communities from 1998-2013.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ndsu.edu/oai:library.ndsu.edu:10365/24003 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | O'Brien, Peter |
| Publisher | North Dakota State University |
| Source Sets | North Dakota State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text/master's paper |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | NDSU policy 190.6.2, https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf |
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