Inventory & Monitoring at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area

View from Angel Falls Overlook.

NPS Photo

The Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area encompasses over 472 miles of streams, including all of the free-flowing Big South Fork River. The river is a globally significant hotspot of freshwater mussel diversity with 42 species present, including 11 that are federally endangered. Big South Fork NRRA is one of the 10 most diverse parks in the National Park Service system for freshwater fish, with 93 species within park boundaries, including two federally endangered or threatened. The threatened tuxedo darter (Ehteostoma lemniscatum) occurs nowhere else in the world. The park is also home to 1,100 species of vascular plants, including two federally-threatened species, as well as rare vegetation types such as cobble bars (river scour prairies).

Natural resource concerns at Big South Fork NRRA include water quality and quantity, critically imperiled aquatic species, rare riparian and clifftop communities, invasive exotic species, introduced forest pests and diseases, as well as intensive resource extraction. The Cumberland Plateau is rich in oil, gas and coal deposits, and the Big South Fork watershed has a long history of coal mining and oil and gas extraction.

The network monitors water quality and quantity, Cumberland rosemary, cobble bar communities, rare mussels, rare fish (tuxedo darter), and landscape change at Big South Fork NRRA.

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

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Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area

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Species attribute definitions

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