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. In order to accommodate the complex vegetation patterns often found in National Park units and generally maintain a minimum mapping unit of 0.5 ha, a three-tiered scheme was developed for attributing vegetation polygons. Where appropriate, secondary and tertiary vegetation classes are added to describe mixed-plant communities within the polygon. Secondary and tertiary classes were especially useful for describing ecotones, and for polygons with a patchwork of communities below the minimum mapping unit size. Final products included seamless park-wide GIS databases in ArcGIS geodatabase and ArcView shapefile formats of detailed overstory vegetation communities, along with vegetation statistics, hardcopy maps and orthophoto images plotted at large scale corresponding to the park area.

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. Following the vegetation plot data analysis, the preliminary vegetation map was edited and refined to produce a revised preliminary vegetation map prior to thematic accuracy assessment (AA). Using ArcMap 9.2 (ESRI 1999-2006), polygon boundaries were revised on-screen using the newly acquired aerial orthophotography (digital photomosaic) based on the classification plot data, field observations, classification analyses, aerial photography signatures, and topographic maps. Each polygon was assigned the USNVC Community Element Global (CEGL) code of a preliminary vegetation association based on the information sources listed above. Second, third, and fourth CEGL code choices were entered in cases of uncertainty, or for polygons representing mosaics of two or more vegetation types.

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. Following the vegetation plot data analysis, the preliminary vegetation map was edited and refined to produce a revised preliminary vegetation map prior to thematic accuracy assessment (AA). Using ArcMap 9.2 (ESRI 1999-2006), polygon boundaries were revised on-screen using the newly acquired aerial orthophotography (digital photomosaic) based on the classification plot data, field observations, classification analyses, aerial photography signatures, and topographic maps. Each polygon was assigned the USNVC Community Element Global (CEGL) code of a preliminary vegetation association based on the information sources listed above. Second, third, and fourth CEGL code choices were entered in cases of uncertainty, or for polygons representing mosaics of two or more vegetation types.

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. Just over 698 acres, including 214 acres in the authorized boundary of HOME and an additional 484 acres in the environs, were mapped using ten map classes (Figure 5). This included four land cover classes and six vegetation classes. Of all the map units, the most frequent was Fraxinus pennsylvanica / Ulmus spp. / Celtis occidentalis Forest with 21 polygons. Fraxinus pennsylvanica / Ulmus spp. / Celtis occidentalis Forest was also the most abundant map unit in terms of area other than cropfields in the environs, covering 219 acres (89 hectares) or about 13% of the project area. All of the frequencies for each map unit (i.e., number of polygons) along with acreage per map unit are listed in Table 3. Normally the standard minimum mapping unit for NPS vegetation mapping projects is defined as 0.5 hectare. However this is a nominal unit and due to the small size of HOME and the resolution of the imagery it was reduced to allow for more detail in the mapping. Therefore, 13 of the total 60 polygons were under 0.5 hectare. The average area of polygons for this project was 28.8 acres (11.6 hectares).

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. Just over 698 acres, including 214 acres in the authorized boundary of HOME and an additional 484 acres in the environs, were mapped using ten map classes (Figure 5). This included four land cover classes and six vegetation classes. Of all the map units, the most frequent was Fraxinus pennsylvanica / Ulmus spp. / Celtis occidentalis Forest with 21 polygons. Fraxinus pennsylvanica / Ulmus spp. / Celtis occidentalis Forest was also the most abundant map unit in terms of area other than cropfields in the environs, covering 219 acres (89 hectares) or about 13% of the project area. All of the frequencies for each map unit (i.e., number of polygons) along with acreage per map unit are listed in Table 3. Normally the standard minimum mapping unit for NPS vegetation mapping projects is defined as 0.5 hectare. However this is a nominal unit and due to the small size of HOME and the resolution of the imagery it was reduced to allow for more detail in the mapping. Therefore, 13 of the total 60 polygons were under 0.5 hectare. The average area of polygons for this project was 28.8 acres (11.6 hectares).

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. Vegetation communities were delineated for the Mt. Wanda sub-unit of the John Muir National Historic Site in the summer of 2004. A total of 13 alliances and 18 associations were identified in the study area. These 13 alliances represent 7 formation types and 4 classes: forest, woodland, shrubland and herbaceous vegetation. The plot locations encompass every vegetation type and include every aspect and elevation of Mt. Wanda. Included in the report are an alliance level map and a class level map using the black and white aerial photograph of 2000. There are eight polygons that were classified to the alliance level and were visited, but do not have an association assignment because a rapid assessment plot was not done within the polygon. There are two polygons called “facilities” which have some vegetation cover but consist mostly of buildings or horse corrals. In future mapping efforts, these polygons should be included in vegetation analysis since they may have structures removed and/or restoration projects associated with them. The horse corrals are particularly important for management of invasive species since some are a source for specific invasive species not found in other locations on Mt. Wanda, such as purple starthistle (Centaurea calcitrapa) and perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) (Bossard et al. 2000).

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. Vegetation communities were delineated for the Mt. Wanda sub-unit of the John Muir National Historic Site in the summer of 2004. A total of 13 alliances and 18 associations were identified in the study area. These 13 alliances represent 7 formation types and 4 classes: forest, woodland, shrubland and herbaceous vegetation. The plot locations encompass every vegetation type and include every aspect and elevation of Mt. Wanda. Included in the report are an alliance level map and a class level map using the black and white aerial photograph of 2000. There are eight polygons that were classified to the alliance level and were visited, but do not have an association assignment because a rapid assessment plot was not done within the polygon. There are two polygons called “facilities” which have some vegetation cover but consist mostly of buildings or horse corrals. In future mapping efforts, these polygons should be included in vegetation analysis since they may have structures removed and/or restoration projects associated with them. The horse corrals are particularly important for management of invasive species since some are a source for specific invasive species not found in other locations on Mt. Wanda, such as purple starthistle (Centaurea calcitrapa) and perennial pepperweed (Lepidium latifolium) (Bossard et al. 2000).

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. Spatial data from field observation points and quantitative plots were used to edit the formation-level maps of Colonial National Historical Park to better reflect vegetation classes. Using ArcView 3.3, polygon boundaries were revised onscreen over leaf-off photography. Units used to label polygons on the map (i.e. map classes) are equivalent to one or more vegetation classes from the regional vegetation classification, or to a land-use class from the Anderson (Anderson et al. 1976) Level II classification system. Each polygon on the Colonial National Historical Park map was assigned to one of forty map classes based on plot data, field observations, aerial photography signatures, and topographic maps. The mapping boundary was based on park boundary data obtained Colonial National Historical Park in May 2003. The mapping boundary includes lands under a scenic easement at Swanns Point and it excludes the Cheatham Annex, an area that returned to US Navy ownership in February 2004. The vegetation map was clipped at the park boundary because areas outside the park were not surveyed or included in the accuracy assessment.

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. Spatial data from field observation points and quantitative plots were used to edit the formation-level maps of Colonial National Historical Park to better reflect vegetation classes. Using ArcView 3.3, polygon boundaries were revised onscreen over leaf-off photography. Units used to label polygons on the map (i.e. map classes) are equivalent to one or more vegetation classes from the regional vegetation classification, or to a land-use class from the Anderson (Anderson et al. 1976) Level II classification system. Each polygon on the Colonial National Historical Park map was assigned to one of forty map classes based on plot data, field observations, aerial photography signatures, and topographic maps. The mapping boundary was based on park boundary data obtained Colonial National Historical Park in May 2003. The mapping boundary includes lands under a scenic easement at Swanns Point and it excludes the Cheatham Annex, an area that returned to US Navy ownership in February 2004. The vegetation map was clipped at the park boundary because areas outside the park were not surveyed or included in the accuracy assessment.

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 TOP 2015 imagery was mosaiced and manipulated using image processing and segmentation techniques (e.g. unsupervised image classification, normalized difference vegetation index, etc.) to highlight any subtle vegetation signature differences. All of the preliminary results were evaluated for usefulness and the best examples were first converted to digital lines and polygons, were next combined with other relevant AMIS GIS layers (such as the roads network), and the results were used as the base layer for the new AMIS vegetation mapping effort. Building off the base layer, all relevant lines and polygons were exported as shapefiles and converted to ArcGIS coverages. The resulting coverages were run through a series of smoothing routines provided in the ArcGIS software. Following the smoothing, all digital line-work was manipulated to remove extraneous lines, eliminate small polygons, and merged polygons that split obvious stands of homogeneous vegetation. The cleaning stage was considered complete when all resulting polygons matched homogenous stands of vegetation apparent on the TOP 2015 imagery. At this point, the mapping shifted to manual techniques and all vegetation lines and polygons were visually inspected and manually moved, edited and/or updated as needed.