Natural Resource Monitoring at Catoctin Mountain Park

A woman wades across a stream running a tape measure behind her.
Water monitoring in Owens Creek.

NPS/Nortrup

The National Capital Region Inventory & Monitoring Network monitors air quality, amphibians, birds, forest pests, vegetation, invasive plants, stream water, and stream fish and macroinvertebrates at Catoctin Mountain Park. The results of that monitoring provide park managers with scientific information for decision-making.

Catoctin Mountain Park sits on the eastern slopes of Catoctin Mountain in the northern Blue Ridge mountains. Its 5,890 acres of eastern deciduous forest includes cool mountain streams and rocky scenic outcrops.

The park’s main natural resource management concerns are invasive plants and diseases, overpopulation of deer, and surrounding land development. Climate change is predicted to negatively affect park resources, including raising the temperature of trout-supporting streams, changing forest composition, and favoring invasive species and forests pests and diseases.

What's Happening in Catoctin

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    NCRN Monitoring at Catoctin by the Numbers

    *Site numbers as of 2022. These can change over time.
    What We Monitor Sites at Catoctin* Monitoring Frequency Information We Collect
    Amphibians 88 known wetland pools Annual sampling on a subset of known wetlands

    Wetland sites are monitored twice per sampling period
    • Species occupancy and richness for salamanders, frogs, and toads in vernal pools
    Birds – forest only 45 (forest bird) Forest plots are monitored twice a year
    • Forest bird species and abundance
    • Bird habitat quality
    Forest vegetation 49 (forest vegetation) Approximately a quarter of plots each year on a four-year cycle
    • Deer browse
    • Fallen and standing woody debris
    • Targeted diseases and pests
    • Targeted invasive plant species
    • Trees, shrubs, vines, and specific non-woody plants
    Stream biota – fish and macroinvertebrates At streams listed below Periodic sampling 2007-2014, 2019-2023
    • Aquatic macroinvertebrates taxa and abundance
    • Fish species and abundance
    • Stream physical habitat including bank stability, stream shading, and distance from developed areas
    Stream water quality 3 (stream site) on Big Hunting Creek, Blue Blazes Creek, and Owens Creek Stream sites are monitored every other month
    • Acid neutralizing capacity
    • Dissolved oxygen
    • pH
    • Salinity/specific conductance
    • Stream width, depth, flow, and discharge
    • Total nitrate and phosphorus
    • Water temperature

    Last updated: May 11, 2023