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 National Capital Parks - East. The results of that monitoring provide park managers with scientific information for decision-making.
National Capital Parks - East is made up of 13 individual parks that span 8,000 acres within the Atlantic Coastal Plain, stretching from Capitol Hill to the nearby Maryland suburbs. These sites protect a diversity of wildlife and vegetation in natural areas including tidal marshes, wetlands, stream valleys, and forests.
The park’s main natural resource management concerns are surrounding land use, regionally poor air quality, and overpopulation of deer. Stormwater management is a big concern for stream ecosystems. Regional air quality and land use patterns can have strong effects on park resources.
What's happening in National Capital Parks - East
NCRN Monitoring at National Capital Parks - East by the Numbers
What We Monitor | Sites at National Capital Parks - East* | Monitoring Frequency | Information We Collect |
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Amphibians | 113 known wetland pools | Annual sampling on a subset of known wetlands Wetland sites are monitored twice per sampling period |
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Birds – forest only | 30 (forest bird) | Forest plots are monitored twice a year |
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Forest vegetation | 49 (forest vegetation) | Approximately a quarter of plots each year on a four-year cycle |
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Stream biota – fish and macroinvertebrates | At streams listed below | Periodic sampling 2007-2014, 2019-2023 |
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Stream water quality | 3 (stream site) on Henson Creek, Oxon Run, and Still Creek | Stream sites are monitored every other month |
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Marsh elevation | 5 on Kenilworth Marsh 5 on Kingman Lake |
Marsh elevation sites are monitored once a year |
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Last updated: May 11, 2023