Assessment and Application of the LCTA Protocol at MAGTFTC, Twentynine Palms, California

摘要

The purpose of the Land Condition Trend Analysis (LCTA) program at the Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command (MAGTFTC), Twentynine Palms, California, is to support natural resource management decision making. The LCTA monitoring program collects the data necessary to (1) determine effects of military activity on both the current ecological condition of MAGTFTC and the trend in this condition, (2) help characterize the relationship between military impacts and the type, location, timing, intensity, and duration of training, and (3) characterize plant communities on MAGTFTC. This report assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the current LCTA program and offers recommendations for improvements. The current LCTA Protocol meets its primary purpose by addressing the effect of training on the bajada areas of MAGTFTC and providing information for management of this type of site. Albeit a secondary purpose, the Protocol inadequately samples the variability in the overall vegetation of MAGTFTC and is weak for evaluating ecological responses to stressors other than training and all stressors in areas other than the bajadas. Two of the data collection methods used in the Protocol line transects and belt transects are useful and efficient and should be retained. Other sampling methods and the variables they quantify may merit review and discontinuance. While current requirements and funding levels will continue to drive the sampling, the Protocol would benefit from fewer variables but more locations being sampled. The data collected from 1997 to 1999 provide a useful baseline data set for a large portion of MAGTFTC. However, a number of areas were under-sampled or not sampled at all. The data analyses performed are adequate for some uses, but are inadequate for others.