Natural Resource Monitoring at Saugus Iron Works NHS

Saugus Iron Works NHS buildings and waters.

NPS photo.

 

Overview

Saugus lron Works is a reconstruction of the first successful, integrated iron works in the New World. It produced wrought iron and cast iron products from 1646 to approximately 1670, using the most advanced iron-making technology in early Colonial times. On April 5th, 1968 the site was renamed Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site and became part of the National Park System because of its significance to the character, development, and history of the United States.

The historic structures of the Iron Works are nestled along the banks of the Saugus River, an important natural resource for newly-settled families and workers to the area during the 17th century. The Saugus River and Turning Basin are fundamental features of the historic landscape. The tidally influenced river is a natural resource for the wide variety of plants, animals, and other organisms that depend on the river, riparian woodlands, and surrounding marshes as an important habitat.

Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site has high biodiversity. The site contains over 200 species of plants, 74 species of birds, 11 species of mammals, four species of reptiles and amphibians, and at least 11 species of fish. Despite its small size, the park supports numerous and interesting species that can be seen by visitors.

Long Term Monitoring Programs in the Park

 

Click below to learn more.

Air Quality	Invasive Species Early Detection
Breeding Landbirds	Phenology
Climate	Water Quality

 

Air Quality Reports

Source: Data Store Saved Search 1187. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

 

Breeding Landbird Reports

Source: Data Store Saved Search 2272. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

 

Invasive Species Reports

Source: Data Store Saved Search 1458. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

 

Water Quality reports

Source: Data Store Saved Search 1153. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

 

Park Basline Inventories

The Inventory and Monitoring Program provides guidance, funding, and technical assistance for parks to complete a set of 12 baseline, or "basic", natural resource inventories. These basic inventories are common to all parks with significant natural resources, and are intended to provide park managers with the minimum information needed to effectively manage the natural resources of their park.

Baseline Inventories	Complete for Park?	Reports, Documents & Data
Water Quality	Y	Baseline Inventory
Base Cartography	Y	Cartographic data sets: U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Department of Agriculture. National Park Service data clearinghouse for mapping information and geospatial resources.
Air Quality Related Values	Y	Air Quality in Parks
Climate Inventory	Y	Weather and Climate Inventory for NETN parks
Geological Resources Inventory	Y	NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Saugus Iron Works NHS
Soil Resources Inventory	Y	NPS - SRI - Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO)
Water Body Location and Classification	Y	National Hydrography Dataset
Vegetation Inventory	Y	Vegetation Inventory and Map
Species Lists	Y	IRMA Species Search

 

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:

Saugus Iron Works 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.

 

Non NPS Citizen Science Opportunities in the Park

Bird observations from eBird

Saugus Iron Works NHS has been set up in eBird as a birding "hotspot". To view information on recent and hisotric bird observations in the park, click here.

Species observations from iNaturalist

Learn how you can contribute to iNaturalist

View Saugus Iron Works NHS data on iNaturalist website