The National Park Service (NPS) Arctic Network (ARCN) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) program monitors physical and natural resources in the National Park lands of Alaska including Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park and Noatak National Preserve. Terrestrial Vegetation and Soils is one of the systems chosen by ARCN for long term scientific monitoring in the Parks. I&M has committed to the highest ideals of data quality by monitoring natural systems in the same way, year after year according to published protocols with the goal of providing reliable scientific information to Park managers . The heart of the data management system for the Terrestrial Vegetation and Soils monitoring program is a Microsoft SQL Server relational database which allows Arctic Network to meet its paramount duty: assuring the security, accessibility and longevity of the monitoring data into the future. In May, 2025 Arctic Network anticipates reductions in the federal work force that threaten the continued support and maintenance of this database. Consequently, Arctic Network is immediately publishing a snapshot of the Terrestrial Vegetation and Soils monitoring database as an emergency step in assuring the data remain available to the public despite the uncertainty of I&M’s future. This report documents the Terrestrial Vegetation and Soils database export files and their contents. Methods Methods are not described in this report but are fully documented and publicly available in the Terrestrial Vegetation and Soils monitoring protocol and standard operating procedures (Table 1). Table 1. Links to background resources. Website https://www.nps.gov/im/arcn/vegsoils.htm ProjectReference https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2220078 Data Quality The data records in this release are provided ‘as-is’. Inventory and Monitoring data typically goes through a value-adding life cycle where data are collected, processed for quality, validated and then certified for analytical use. Under ideal circumstances I&M policy is to only publish fully certified and documented datasets. Due to the urgency with which these data are being published the user should recognize that some or all of the records in this data release may not have been shepherded through all quality control steps, and may or may not contain accurate indicators of quality. Arctic Network is publishing data of unconstrained quality in the belief that it will serve the public interest more than withholding the data entirely. Authority U.S. Government Works. Data and content created by government employees within the scope of their employment are not subject to domestic copyright protection under 17 U.S.C. 105. Government works are by default in the U.S. Public Domain. Database Metadata See the MetadataTables and MetadataColumns database tables for descriptions.

This dataset provides environmental, soil, and vegetation data collected at selected locations in the parks and preserves of the National Park Service (NPS) Arctic Network (ARCN) between 2002 and 2008. The ARCN includes five national parks and preserves in northern Alaska encompassing 19.5 million acres and represents some of the wildest, most undisturbed areas left on earth: The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park, and the Noatak National Preserve. The sampling sites were chosen to represent the full range of vegetation in the area with replication, and for uniformity in floristic composition and environmental conditions and were positioned on transects along toposequences within major physiographic units (riverine, lacustrine, lowland, upland, subalpine and alpine). Specific attributes include dominant vegetation, species, and cover, soil chemistry, physical characteristics, moisture, and organic matter, as well as site disturbance from various sources.

The National Park Service (NPS) Arctic Network (ARCN) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) program monitors physical and natural resources in the National Park lands of Alaska including Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park and Noatak National Preserve. Lagoon Communities and Ecosystems is one of the systems chosen by ARCN for long term scientific monitoring in the Parks. I&M has committed to the highest ideals of data quality by monitoring natural systems in the same way, year after year according to published protocols with the goal of providing reliable scientific information to Park managers . The heart of the data management system for the Lagoon Communities and Ecosystems monitoring program is a Microsoft SQL Server relational database which allows Arctic Network to meet its paramount duty: assuring the security, accessibility and longevity of the monitoring data into the future. In May, 2025 Arctic Network anticipates reductions in the federal work force that threaten the continued support and maintenance of this database. Consequently, Arctic Network is immediately publishing a snapshot of the Lagoon Communities and Ecosystems monitoring database as an emergency step in assuring the data remain available to the public despite the uncertainty of I&M’s future. Data Quality The data records in this release are provided ‘as-is’. Inventory and Monitoring data typically goes through a value-adding life cycle where data are collected, processed for quality, validated and then certified for analytical use. Under ideal circumstances I&M policy is to only publish fully certified and documented datasets. Due to the urgency with which these data are being published the user should recognize that some or all of the records in this data release may not have been shepherded through all quality control steps, and may or may not contain accurate indicators of quality. Central Alaska Network is publishing data of unconstrained quality in the belief that it will serve the public interest more than withholding the data entirely. Some databases contain a CertificationLevel column for each record describing its quality. Table 2 lists the CertificationLevels and their definitions. The database tables described in this report may, or may not have the CertificationLevel column and may contain other metadata columns containing data quality ratings. In such cases look for documentation in each CSV data file’s accompanying metadata file. Table 2. Data quality indicator columns. CertificationLevel Description Raw Data as transcribed from field measurements, downloaded from logger files or otherwise received with no quality control processing applied. Provisional Data that have received quality control processing and been validated for provisional internal use, but have not yet been certified by the project leader. Certified Analytical quality. Methods Methods are described in the monitoring protocol: Jones T, Apsens S, Miller S, Robards M. 2018. Coastal lagoons vital signs monitoring protocol for the Arctic Network: Volume 1, report narrative, version 1.0. Natural Resource Report. NPS/ARCN/NRR—2018/1824. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2257596 and standard operating procedures: Jones T. 2017. Coastal Lagoon Vital Signs Monitoring Protocol for the Arctic Network: Standard Operating Procedures Version 1.0. National Park Service https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2310242

The National Park Service (NPS) Arctic Network (ARCN) Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) program monitors physical and natural resources in the National Park lands of Alaska including Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Kobuk Valley National Park and Noatak National Preserve. Lagoon Communities and Ecosystems is one of the systems chosen by ARCN for long term scientific monitoring in the Parks. I&M has committed to the highest ideals of data quality by monitoring natural systems in the same way, year after year according to published protocols with the goal of providing reliable scientific information to Park managers . The heart of the data management system for the Lagoon Communities and Ecosystems monitoring program is a Microsoft SQL Server relational database which allows Arctic Network to meet its paramount duty: assuring the security, accessibility and longevity of the monitoring data into the future. In May, 2025 Arctic Network anticipates reductions in the federal work force that threaten the continued support and maintenance of this database. Consequently, Arctic Network is immediately publishing a snapshot of the Lagoon Communities and Ecosystems monitoring database as an emergency step in assuring the data remain available to the public despite the uncertainty of I&M’s future. Data Quality The data records in this release are provided ‘as-is’. Inventory and Monitoring data typically goes through a value-adding life cycle where data are collected, processed for quality, validated and then certified for analytical use. Under ideal circumstances I&M policy is to only publish fully certified and documented datasets. Due to the urgency with which these data are being published the user should recognize that some or all of the records in this data release may not have been shepherded through all quality control steps, and may or may not contain accurate indicators of quality. Central Alaska Network is publishing data of unconstrained quality in the belief that it will serve the public interest more than withholding the data entirely. Some databases contain a CertificationLevel column for each record describing its quality. Table 2 lists the CertificationLevels and their definitions. The database tables described in this report may, or may not have the CertificationLevel column and may contain other metadata columns containing data quality ratings. In such cases look for documentation in each CSV data file’s accompanying metadata file. Table 2. Data quality indicator columns. CertificationLevel Description Raw Data as transcribed from field measurements, downloaded from logger files or otherwise received with no quality control processing applied. Provisional Data that have received quality control processing and been validated for provisional internal use, but have not yet been certified by the project leader. Certified Analytical quality. Methods Methods are described in the monitoring protocol: Jones T, Apsens S, Miller S, Robards M. 2018. Coastal lagoons vital signs monitoring protocol for the Arctic Network: Volume 1, report narrative, version 1.0. Natural Resource Report. NPS/ARCN/NRR—2018/1824. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2257596 and standard operating procedures: Jones T. 2017. Coastal Lagoon Vital Signs Monitoring Protocol for the Arctic Network: Standard Operating Procedures Version 1.0. National Park Service https://irma.nps.gov/DataStore/Reference/Profile/2310242

These data were converted from the originally delivered Microsoft Access PLOTs database from the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Gates of the Arctic National Park and 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.

These data were converted from the originally delivered Microsoft Access PLOTs database from the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Gates of the Arctic National Park and 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.

The resource contains soil lab data from the ABR, Inc. – Environmental Research and Services (ABR) 2019 ground surveys. The data in this resource relates to all other data deliverable resources through the project_id and plot_id fields. The data in this resource relates specifically to the data in the files “abr_anwr_ns_lc_soil_horizon_deliverable.csv” and “abr_anwr_ns_lc_soil_sample_deliverable.csv” through the project_id, plot_id, and horizon_number fields. This resource contains the data from the 18-381_csu_lab_data.xlsx and Original_OSU_anwr_lab_data.xlsx in a relational database format.

The resource contains soil lab data from the ABR, Inc. – Environmental Research and Services (ABR) 2019 ground surveys. The data in this resource relates to all other data deliverable resources through the project_id and plot_id fields. The data in this resource relates specifically to the data in the files “abr_anwr_ns_lc_soil_horizon_deliverable.csv” and “abr_anwr_ns_lc_soil_sample_deliverable.csv” through the project_id, plot_id, and horizon_number fields. This resource contains the data from the 18-381_csu_lab_data.xlsx and Original_OSU_anwr_lab_data.xlsx in a relational database format.

Landcover map geodatabase for Arctic Network Parks. This project is the result of an eight-year effort (2002–2009) by ABR,Inc. –Environmental Research & Services to survey, compile, analyze, and map ecosystems across the five parks of the Arctic Network in Alaska, including Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR), Noatak National Preserve (NOAT), Kobuk Valley National Park (KOVA), Cape Krusenstern National Monument (CAKR), and Bering Land Bridge Park and Preserve (BELA).

Landcover map geodatabase for Arctic Network Parks. This project is the result of an eight-year effort (2002–2009) by ABR,Inc. –Environmental Research & Services to survey, compile, analyze, and map ecosystems across the five parks of the Arctic Network in Alaska, including Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve (GAAR), Noatak National Preserve (NOAT), Kobuk Valley National Park (KOVA), Cape Krusenstern National Monument (CAKR), and Bering Land Bridge Park and Preserve (BELA).