Inventory & Monitoring at Colonial National Historical Park

Moore House at Colonial National Historical Park. NPS Photo

A Little Context

Colonial National Historical Park spans 3,740 hectares of Virginia’s coastal plains. Flanked by the James and York Rivers, which feed into Chesapeake Bay, Colonial includes the historic Jamestown settlement and victorious Revolutionary War site of Yorktown. It is also home to the second highest number of rare, threatened, and endangered species of all National Park Service units in Virginia.

Colonial’s landscape is dominated by pine and hardwood forests, and flows with streams, creeks, and freshwater and brackish ponds. Its coasts are lined with tidal and nontidal wetlands and open fields. As many birds, fish, mammals, aquatic invertebrates, and plants that depend on the park's water sources, a major challenge at Colonial is maintaining water quality. The park is vulnerable and downstream of oil spills, toxic chemicals, erosion, and sedimentation, all of which impact wildlife and habitat. Colonial’s cultural landmarks are also threatened by river shoreline erosion, which has accelerated due to recreational activities.

Our Work with Colonial

Colonial offers visitors unique opportunities to observe diverse land and aquatic life and recreational fishing. To ensure management decisions are effective, the Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network, along with Colonial staff, collects ecological monitoring data on a number of ecosystem vital signs. Learn about our work below.

What We Monitor

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  Salt Marsh

  Tidal Wetland Elevation

  Salt marshes need to maintain their surface elevation above water, especially when sea levels are rising

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  Estuaries

  Estuarine Water Quality

  Nutrient enrichment along coastal shores is a worldwide consequence of human population growth

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  Upland Forests

  Forest Health

  Invasive exotic plants, white-tailed deer, diseases and pathogens, and native forest pests have greatly impacted the forests of New England

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  What We Monitor

  Weather & Climate

  Understanding patterns and trends in weather and climate means being prepared to better manage park natural resources.

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  What We Monitor

  Air Quality

  Clean air, the thing we can't see yet need. Monitoring it is essential to the health of our visitors and communities.

In the Mood to Explore?

Learn about inventory and monitoring at our other parks or check out our science stories.