Natural Resource Monitoring at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

Fish monitoring at Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

NPS / Kristina Callahan

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site is one of nine parks in the Eastern Rivers and Mountains Network which is part of a nation-wide effort of the National Park Service to generate scientifically sound information on the changing conditions of park ecosystems. Each year, our scientists hike extensively throughout the parks stopping to collect information for the long-term monitoring programs listed below. Back at the office they analyze data and share the information with park managers to help them better understand how to best preserve park ecosystems for future generations.

To learn more about these programs and key findings, choose from the options below.

Long-term Monitoring Programs

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  Benthic Macroinvertebrates

  These aquatic animals are widely regarded as the best group of animals for monitoring the ecological 'health' of streams and rivers.

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  Streamside Birds

  Our scientists document information on a community of birds that are essential components of park ecosystems.

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  Vegetation and Soils

  Forests are important ecosystems in parks, providing beautiful landscapes for recreation, and habitat for countless plants and animals.

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  Invasive Plants

  Parks monitor and manage invasive plants to protect important biodiversity and historic places.

Park Species Lists

Species lists are available from NPSpecies, the National Park Service's tool for documenting park biodiversity. Keep in mind that these species lists are a work-in-progress. Changes and updates are made as more species are shepherded through a rigorous vetting process. The absence of a species from a list produced with the tool below doesn't necessarily mean the species is absent from a park.

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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.

Select a Park:

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site

Select a Species Category (optional):

All Amphibians Birds Fish Mammals Reptiles Vascular Plants

Get Checklist Get Full List List Differences

Species attribute definitions

Search results will be displayed here.

Visit NPSpecies for more comprehensive information and advanced search capability. Have a suggestion or comment on this list? Let us know.

Reports & Publications

Find in-depth information on natural resources in Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site at the links below.

Air Quality

Source: Data Store Collection 4304 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Animals

Source: Data Store Collection 4298 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Geology and Soils

Source: Data Store Collection 4299 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Landscapes

Source: Data Store Collection 4303 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Plants

Source: Data Store Collection 4301 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Water Quality

Source: Data Store Collection 4300 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Weather and Climate

Source: Data Store Collection 4302 (results presented are a subset). To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Citizen Science Opportunities

Bird observations from eBird

Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site has one or more “birding hotspots” set up in eBird. Help the park record bird data by adding your bird observations to the appropriate hotspot when you visit the park.

Species observations from iNaturalist

• Learn how you can contribute to iNaturalist
• View Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site iNaturalist data