Department of the Interior
Dataset Description
This data package contains the data collected for the Rocky Mountain Network’s (ROMN) Vegetation Composition Structure and Soils (VCSS) protocol. These data were collected in the field at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument (FLFO), Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site (GRKO), and Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (LIBI) in Colorado and Montana beginning in 2009 and continuing to the present. Vegetation composition, structure, and soils are important habitat elements in all Rocky Mountain Network parks. Vegetation structure and composition are fundamental determinants of wildlife habitat characteristics and quality, visitor experiences, cultural/historic landscape quality (in the cases of LIBI and GRKO), and basic ecosystem functioning (e.g., via primary production; cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and other nutrients; and micro-climate controls). The files in this package include information regarding the trees, seedlings, other plant species, soil stability, and disturbance at the upland sampling locations in each park.
Organization: Department of the Interior
Organization URL: https://catalog.data.gov/organization/doi
Last updated: 2025-12-01T00:00:00Z
Tags: Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Forest/Woodland Communities, Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Grassland/Herbaceous Communities, Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Shrubland Communities, Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Terrestrial Complex, Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Vegetation Complex, Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Invasive Species | Invasive/Exotic plants, Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Soil Quality | Soil Function and Dynamics, FLFO, GRKO, LIBI, ROMN, Rocky Mountain Inventory and Monitoring Network, litter, phenology, plants, soil, transects, trees, vegetation