A quantitative plant inventory was conducted between the years of 2002 and 2004 by the Institute for Regional Conservation (IRC) on the 295,100 ha Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida. The goal of the study was to document at least 90% of plant taxa in the preserve. Abundance was measured on three hundred, 1 km x 1 km, sample stations; two, 250 m, transects per station; intercept points spaced 2.5 m along transects; as well as sixty, 500 m, roadside belt transects. 1094 unique plant taxa, both previously known and unknown, were documented. The data has been processed for dissemination by the Inverntory and Monitoring Division (IMD), complying with Executive Order 13642, Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information (GPO 2013). Four tabular datasets have been created using the raw data provided from the park, following Darwin Core naming standards and introducing data quality flagging where data was missing or unclear.

An inventory of amphibian species in Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) was conducted from 2002 to 2003. The goals of the project were to create a georeferenced inventory of amphibian species, use new analytical techniques to estimate proportion of sites occupied by each species, look for any signs of amphibian decline (missing species, disease, die-offs, and so forth.), and to establish a protocol that could be used for future monitoring efforts. Survey methods used include visual encounter surveys (VES), anuran vocalization surveys and more limitedly, opportunistic collections and drift fence surveys. All of the amphibian species historically found in Big Cypress National Preserve were detected during this project.

The Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve vegetation mapping project is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). It is a cooperative effort between the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program (VMI). The goal of this project is to produce a spatially and thematically accurate vegetation map of Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve prior to the completion of restoration efforts. The vegetation map will serve as a record of baseline conditions to: (1) document changes to the spatial extent, pattern, and proportion of plant communities within these two federally-managed units as they respond to hydrologic modifications resulting from the implementation of the CERP; and (2) provide vegetation and land-cover information to NPS park managers and scientists for use in park management, resource management, research, and monitoring. This project covers an area of approximately 7,400 square kilometers (1.84 million acres [ac]) and consists of seven mapping regions: four regions in Everglades, Regions 1–4, and three in Big Cypress, Regions 5–7. The report that follows focuses on the mapping effort associated with Regions 5 and 6, eastern Big Cypress. Eastern Big Cypress encompasses a total area of 2068.8 square kilometers (798.8 square miles [mi2], or 511,212 acres [ac]) and is bounded by Water Conservation Areas to the east, Shark River Slough/Long Pine Key (Region 1) to the southeast, the Northwest Coastal Everglades (Region 4) to the south, and western Big Cypress National Preserve (Region 7) to the west. Photo-interpretation was performed by superimposing a 50 × 50-meter (164 × 164-feet [ft] or 0.25 hectare [0.61 ac]) grid cell vector matrix over stereoscopic, 0.15 meters (0.492 ft) spatial resolution, color-infrared aerial imagery on a digital photogrammetric workstation. Photo-interpreters identified the dominant community in each cell by applying majority-rule algorithms, recognizing community-specific spectral signatures, and referencing an extensive ground-truth database. The dominant vegetation community within each grid cell was classified using a hierarchical classification system developed specifically for this project. Additionally, photo-interpreters categorized the absolute cover of cattail (Typha sp.) and any exotic species detected as either: Sparse (10–49%), Dominant (50–89%), or Monotypic (90–100%). A total of 140 thematic classes were used to map eastern Big Cypress. The most common vegetation class was Cypress Forest. Cypress Forest communities (i.e., Domes, Forest, and Strands) accounted for 28.5% of the total area mapped. Other notable classes include Cypress Scrub (24.2%), Pine Woodlands (13.4%), and Mixed Graminoid Freshwater Marshes and Prairies (11.9%). The map has a thematic class accuracy of 93.1% with a lower 90th Percentile Confidence Interval of 90.8%.

The cigar orchid is a Florida state-listed endangered species, made rare in southern Florida by historical over-collection for its unique beauty, in addition to habitat loss. It is largely restricted to a small number of cypress domes and freshwater sloughs in southwestern Florida, including the Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY). We established a baseline dataset on the population of cigar orchid at BICY, based on extensive field surveys within the following six regions: Fire Prairie Trail-East, Gator Hook Trails, and Florida Trail, Nobles Grade, North of Tamiami Trail (mainly the Skillet Strand), the Oasis strands, and North of I-75. These regions were chosen based on past or current known occurrences of cigar orchids. We conducted a total of 25 field searches of cigar orchids in BICY. We found a total of 85 cigar orchids and recorded their GPS locations along with their microhabitat information, i.e., host tree species, host tree DBH and height, and cardinal direction (i.e., face) on host tree. The total search area across regions adds up to 284.9 ha (i.e., 705 acres).

This reference contains the imagery data used in the completion of the baseline vegetation inventory project for the NPS park unit. Orthophotos, raw imagery, and scanned aerial photos are common files held here. To complete the automated phase, CTI subcontracted with Photo Science (based in Lexington, KY) to create a BIBE landform layer and a drainage/wash layer. Photo Science reviewed and acquired all National Elevation Dataset (NED) 10-meter DEMs for the project area and mosaiced them into a seamless coverage. The DEM data was then manipulated to create the following derived spatial layers: aspect, slope, three hillshade datasets (different azimuth angles), a contour range layer, and a compound topographic index (or wetness index) that models water flow and accumulation. Similarly, Photo Science also acquired the 2012 National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery for the entire project area as high-resolution (1-meter pixels) digital ortho quarter quadrangles (DOQQs). The NAIP DOQQs were mosaiced and resampled from 1-meter to 10-meter pixels to match the DEM resolution. Erdas Imagine software was then used to derive a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and a near infrared (NIR) band texture layer from the imagery using a 9x9 moving window. During the planning and coordination phase, CTI staff reviewed all available digital imagery for its potential use as the BIBE basemap. The most promising and easy to access was the data catalog found on the Texas Natural Resource Information System (TNRIS) website. Navigating to the orthoimagery-statewide web page, the list of existing imagery covering BIBE included multiple NAIP products. The corresponding 2010 and 2012 NAIP 1-meter DOQQs for BIBE were downloaded and used during the early planning stages of this project and to produce field maps and interim products.

The files linked to this reference are the geospatial data created as part of the completion of the baseline vegetation inventory project for the NPS park unit. Current format is ArcGIS file geodatabase but older formats may exist as shapefiles. The enormous size of the BIBE project area warranted the use of a modified or hybrid mapping approach. Early discussions determined the need to have an approach that included a coarse-level automated or machine-logic image processing stage and a fine-level stage that included vegetation signature interpretation and manual polygon delineation. Based on similar mapping work done by CTI in other desert environments, the automated stage would use multiresolution image segmentation routines to capture high contrast landforms and drainage/wash features, greatly reducing the time needed to delineate these by hand. The second phase would build off these segmented polygons to delineate the fine-level plant alliance/association based map units. For BIBE, 72 map units (62 vegetated and 10 land-use/land-cover) were developed. The final list of map classes/units was directly cross-walked or matched to corresponding plant associations and land use classes. BIBE map classes represent a compromise between the detail of the rUSNVC, new types found in the park (not currently in the rUSNVC), the needs of the resource management staff (e.g. detailed mapping of riparian, wetland, and non-native types), and the limitations of the imagery. An effort was made to crosswalk the final list of map classes/units to corresponding plant associations/alliances and land use classes. When a direct rUSNVC link to an association was not feasible, broader alliances or descriptive local map units (park specials) were created. In addition, some of the more widespread associations occurred across multiple map units.

These data were converted from the originally delivered Microsoft Access PLOTs database from the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Big Bend National Park. These comma-delimited data tables contain(s) vegetation mapping plot classification and accuracy assessment data, as well as summary information about the data itself. If a table is empty, then it was empty in the original database.

The files linked to this reference are the geospatial data created as part of the completion of the baseline vegetation inventory project for the NPS park unit. Current format is ArcGIS file geodatabase but older formats may exist as shapefiles. After the field mapping crew finished the initial map unit polygon census, data was entered into a geodatabase. This data was quality checked and the final version was passed to WSAL. Polygons in the initial segmentation that were modified by crews as noted on the hardcopy maps supplied by the field crew were edited directly in the geodatabase. Any new map unit polygons created had a letter added to their original polygon-id field. A crosswalk table was created that linked the initial field key types to the USNVC series of hierarchical classifications and the field comments for each type. These classification attributes were then joined to the initial and final map units in the geodatabase.

These data were converted from the originally delivered Microsoft Access PLOTs database from the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Big Thicket National Preserve. These comma-delimited data tables contain(s) vegetation mapping plot classification and accuracy assessment data, as well as summary information about the data itself. If a table is empty, then it was empty in the original database.

This data release provides data for quantifying the aquatic export of total carbon in a cypress swamp within the Big Cypress National Preserve, and is part of a larger carbon budget study. The U.S. Geological Survey operated two continuous streamflow and water-quality monitoring stations within the Big Cypress National Preserve in southern Florida from September 2015 to October 2017. Site-specific regression models were developed using continuously measured specific conductance and concomitant discretely collected total carbon (dissolved organic carbon, dissolved inorganic carbon, and particulate carbon) samples to calculate continuous concentrations of total carbon. Total carbon loads were calculated by multiplying concentrations and streamflow, and the difference between the load calculations was used to determine the aquatic carbon export of the study area.