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Kansas Biological Survey >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://hdl.handle.net/2097/685
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| Title: | Vegetation of the Fort Riley Military Reservation, Kansas |
| Authors: | Freeman, Craig C.
Delisle, Jennifer M. |
| Publication Date: | 2004 |
| Type: | Technical Report |
| Publisher: | Kansas Biological Survey |
| Keywords: | Prairie ecology
Fort Riley Military Reservation
Kansas
Vegetation |
| Abstract: | In 2002, the Kansas Biological Survey initiated a 2-year project examining the vegetation of the Ft. Riley Military Reservation in northeast Kansas. Specific objectives of the project were to: 1) determine the current condition of vegetation on the installation; 2) locate tracts of native prairie and assess their current quality; 3) determine the locations and severity of infestations of four weed species of greatest concern to installation resource managers; and 4) document locations of protected and rare animal and plant species.
A new vegetation classification developed for the installation includes eight Natural/Near-natural vegetation types (Ash-Elm-Hackberry Floodplain Forest, Cottonwood-Sycamore Floodplain Forest, Cottonwood-Black willow Floodplain Forest, Mixed oak Ravine Woodland, Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie, Sand Prairie, Limestone Butte Sparse Vegetation, and Riverine Sand Flats-Bars Sparse Vegetation), seven Semi-natural/Altered vegetation types (Cropland-Abandoned, Brome Field,
Ruderal-Mixed, Sericea lespedeza Herbaceous Vegetation, Smooth brome/Japanese brome Herbaceous Vegetation, Overgrazed Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairie, and Woodland-Brushy), and six Planted/Cultivated vegetation types (Fire Break, Food Plot, Cultivated Field, Tree Plantation, Hedgerow/Windbreak, and Lawn). Detailed physiognomic and floristic data were gathered for most of the Natural/Near-natural types and for some Semi-natural/Altered types. Planted/Cultivated types received limited attention. More studies are needed to characterize and delimit forest and woodland types. Because the classification is hierarchical and fits with existing state, regional, and national classifications, it can be expanded and modified as needs dictate and resources permit. A 1985 vegetation map of the installation provides a historical snapshot of some physical and floristic attributes. It is of limited use as a benchmark for assessing vegetation changes due to problems with the classification that was used and because of mapping errors. The new vegetation map does provide a reference point for assessing future vegetation changes.
Field surveys identified 116 Flint Hills Tallgrass Prairies ranging in size from 2.7–748.6 acres. None of these meet minimum size standards for ecoregional conservation planning. However, using assessment criteria that considered landscape context, size, and condition, we found that 34% of the prairies are A-grade or B-grade, indicating low to moderate impact by humans. The remaining 66% are C-grade or D-grade. Most of these prairies are small, isolated, and moderately to severely impacted by past or ongoing human activities. The largest prairies, which also generally graded the highest, are concentrated in the south, east, and northwest parts of the installation. Prairies are most abundant in those areas with the greatest topographic relief. Areas with comparatively lower relief have experienced a much higher incidence of past cultivation, as in the central part of the installation. Baseline data can be used by resource managers to establish management priorities based on factors under their influence, including existing levels of protection, conservation value, feasibility, and training mission. The data also can be used to track temporal changes.
Populations of Carduus nutans L. subsp. leiophyllus (Petrovič) Stoj. & Stefani (musk-thistle, musk plumeless-thistle), Robinia pseudoacacia L. (black locust), and Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. (Johnson grass) were found to be mostly small and isolated, with 77, 150, and 218 acres on the installation infested, respectively. Lespedeza cuneata (Dum. Cours.) G. Don (sericea lespedeza) clearly is an imminent ecological threat. Recorded in 94 training areas, and with an estimated 12,927 acres infested, it has become a serious management problem since its introduction in the mid-1980s. Fortunately, most populations are on former cropland. Localized populations were identified on prairies, but eradication of these populations may be possible without seriously compromising the prairie biota. Maintenance of the ecological health of prairies probably is one of the most important factors that will ensure that Lespedeza cuneata does not threaten these important reservoirs of native biodiversity. Unless eradicated or at least checked, large infestations in the central and eastern parts of the installation will continue to serve as seed reservoirs that will allow the species to continue to spread into other parts of the installation, to re-contaminate sites where it has been eradicated, to become established in prairies when local conditions are suitable, and to spread to surrounding private lands. Aggressive control measures involving aerial spraying and prescribed burns may be necessary to stem the spread of this noxious weed in training areas in which plant communities already have been compromised.
No populations of state-rare animal species tracked by the Kansas Biological Survey were documented during this study, but information about two plant species formerly considered state-rare was obtained. Based on their abundance on Ft. Riley, both Chenopodium pallescens Standl. (pale goosefoot) and Sporobolus heterolepis (A. Gray) A. Gray (prairie dropseed) are no longer considered rare in the state. |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/2097/685 |
| Appears in Collections: | Kansas Biological Survey
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