Inventory and Monitoring at Muir Woods National Monument

The boardwalk trail between the towering redwood trees at Muir Woods National Monument

NPS / Jessica Weinberg McClosky

Muir Woods National Monument is located in Marin County, California, just 17 miles north of San Francisco. Although only 554 acres in size, the park receives nearly 1 million visitors a year. The park was established in 1908 to protect one of the last stands of old-growth redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens) in the Bay Area. The age of trees within the park range up to 800 years and fall within a mosaic of redwood, Douglas-fir, hardwood, scrub, and grassland vegetation types. Within this fragment of old-growth habitat live several federally threatened and endangered species including northern spotted owls, coho salmon, California red-legged frogs, and steelhead trout.

Major natural resource issues for the park include hydrologic system disturbance, encroachment of invasive species, climate change, and visitor impact.

Monitored Here

Northern Spotted Owls
Plant Communities
Salmonids
Water Quality

Inventory and Monitoring Documents

Resource Briefs

Source: Data Store Saved Search 1887. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Protocols

Source: Data Store Saved Search 1886. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Annual Reports

Source: Data Store Saved Search 1884. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Synthesis/Trend Reports

Source: Data Store Saved Search 1888. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Inventory Reports

Source: Data Store Saved Search 1885. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.

Species Lists

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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.

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Muir Woods National Monument

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Species attribute definitions

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

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