The Everglades National Park (EVER) and Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) 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 EVER and BICY 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 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 EVER, Regions 1–4; and three in BICY, Regions 5–7 (Figure 1). The report that follows focuses on the mapping effort associated with Region 2, the Southeast Saline Everglades (SESE); an area that is geographically centered on southern Taylor Slough in Everglades NP. Region 2 encompasses a total area of 591.4 square kilometers (228.2 square miles [mi2] and 146,138 ac) and is bounded by Shark River Slough/Long Pine Key (Region 1) to the north, U.S Highway 1 to the east, Florida Bay to the south, and Flamingo (Region 3) to the west. Photo-interpretation was performed by superimposing a 50 × 50 meter (164 × 164 feet [ft] or .25 hectare [.61 ac]) grid cell vector matrix over stereoscopic, 0.30 centimeter (11.8 inches [in]) 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 alongside an aerial photograph interpretation key, and referencing an extensive ground-truth database. The dominant vegetation community within in each grid cell was classified using a hierarchical classification system developed specifically for this project. In addition, at each grid cell photo-interpreters noted any evidence of disturbance as either anthropogenic, fire, freeze, or windstorm and categorized the absolute cover of cattail (Typha sp.) and any exotic species present as either: Sparse (10–49%), Dominant (50–89%), or Monotypic (90–100%). A total of 129 unique vegetation classes were identified within Region 2. The most common vegetation type was Red Mangrove Scrub-Open Marsh. This community accounted for approximately 17.3% of the map area. Other notable classes include Short Sawgrass Marsh-Dense (8.6%), Transitional Bayhead Shrubland (7.2%), Red Mangrove Scrub-Sawgrass Marsh (5.4%), Red Mangrove Scrub-Spikerush Marsh (4.6%), Spikerush Marsh (3.5%), and Transitional Bayhead Swamp Scrub-Sawgrass Marsh (2.5%). These seven classes and water (23.0%) account for 72.2% of the entire area mapped within Region 2. Based on 229 randomly selected points, the Region 2 map accuracy was determined to be 88.6% with a lower 90th percentile confidence level of 84.6%.

The Everglades National Park (EVER) and Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) 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 EVER and BICY 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 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 EVER, Regions 1–4; and three in BICY, Regions 5–7 (Figure 1). The report that follows focuses on the mapping effort associated with Region 2, the Southeast Saline Everglades (SESE); an area that is geographically centered on southern Taylor Slough in Everglades NP. Region 2 encompasses a total area of 591.4 square kilometers (228.2 square miles [mi2] and 146,138 ac) and is bounded by Shark River Slough/Long Pine Key (Region 1) to the north, U.S Highway 1 to the east, Florida Bay to the south, and Flamingo (Region 3) to the west. Photo-interpretation was performed by superimposing a 50 × 50 meter (164 × 164 feet [ft] or .25 hectare [.61 ac]) grid cell vector matrix over stereoscopic, 0.30 centimeter (11.8 inches [in]) 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 alongside an aerial photograph interpretation key, and referencing an extensive ground-truth database. The dominant vegetation community within in each grid cell was classified using a hierarchical classification system developed specifically for this project. In addition, at each grid cell photo-interpreters noted any evidence of disturbance as either anthropogenic, fire, freeze, or windstorm and categorized the absolute cover of cattail (Typha sp.) and any exotic species present as either: Sparse (10–49%), Dominant (50–89%), or Monotypic (90–100%). A total of 129 unique vegetation classes were identified within Region 2. The most common vegetation type was Red Mangrove Scrub-Open Marsh. This community accounted for approximately 17.3% of the map area. Other notable classes include Short Sawgrass Marsh-Dense (8.6%), Transitional Bayhead Shrubland (7.2%), Red Mangrove Scrub-Sawgrass Marsh (5.4%), Red Mangrove Scrub-Spikerush Marsh (4.6%), Spikerush Marsh (3.5%), and Transitional Bayhead Swamp Scrub-Sawgrass Marsh (2.5%). These seven classes and water (23.0%) account for 72.2% of the entire area mapped within Region 2. Based on 229 randomly selected points, the Region 2 map accuracy was determined to be 88.6% with a lower 90th percentile confidence level of 84.6%.

The Everglades National Park (EVER) and Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) 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 NP and Big Cypress NP 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 Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and the Western Everglades Restoration Project; 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 NP, Regions 1–4, and three in Big Cypress NP, Regions 5–7 (Figure 1). The report that follows focuses on the mapping effort associated with Region 3, the Southwest Coastal Everglades (SWCE); an area geographically centered around Whitewater Bay in Everglades NP. Region 3 encompasses a total area of 990.7 square kilometers (382.5 square miles, 244,816 ac) and is bounded by Shark River Slough/Long Pine Key (Region 1) to the northeast, Taylor Slough (Region 2) to the east, and the Northwest Coastal Everglades (Region 4) to the north. Photo-interpretation was performed by superimposing a 50 × 50 meter (164 × 164 feet or 0.25 hectare [0.61 ac]) grid cell vector matrix over stereoscopic, 0.30 centimeter (11.8 inches) 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 alongside an aerial photograph interpretation key, and referencing an extensive ground-truth database. The dominant vegetation community within in each grid cell was classified using a hierarchical classification system developed specifically for this project. Photo-interpreters additionally noted any evidence of disturbance in each grid cell as either anthropogenic, fire, freeze, or windstorm and categorized the absolute cover of cattail (Typha sp.) and any exotic species present as either: Sparse (10–49%), Dominant (50–89%), or Monotypic (90–100%). A total of 169 thematic classes were used to map Region 3. The most common vegetation class was Mixed Mangrove Forest. This community accounted for approximately 8% of the area mapped. Other notable classes include Short Sawgrass Marsh-Dense (6.1%), Red Mangrove Forest (5.0%), Black Mangrove-Red Mangrove Forest (4.5%), and Red Mangrove Scrub-Open Marsh (4.5%). These five classes plus water, e.g., ponds, lakes, bays, rivers, etc., (26%) account for approximately 54% of the entire area mapped within Region 3. Based on 245 randomly selected points, the accuracy of the Region 3 map was determined to be 89.4% with a lower 90th percentile confidence level of 85.6%.

The Everglades National Park (EVER) and Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) 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 NP and Big Cypress NP 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 Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and the Western Everglades Restoration Project; 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 NP, Regions 1–4, and three in Big Cypress NP, Regions 5–7 (Figure 1). The report that follows focuses on the mapping effort associated with Region 3, the Southwest Coastal Everglades (SWCE); an area geographically centered around Whitewater Bay in Everglades NP. Region 3 encompasses a total area of 990.7 square kilometers (382.5 square miles, 244,816 ac) and is bounded by Shark River Slough/Long Pine Key (Region 1) to the northeast, Taylor Slough (Region 2) to the east, and the Northwest Coastal Everglades (Region 4) to the north. Photo-interpretation was performed by superimposing a 50 × 50 meter (164 × 164 feet or 0.25 hectare [0.61 ac]) grid cell vector matrix over stereoscopic, 0.30 centimeter (11.8 inches) 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 alongside an aerial photograph interpretation key, and referencing an extensive ground-truth database. The dominant vegetation community within in each grid cell was classified using a hierarchical classification system developed specifically for this project. Photo-interpreters additionally noted any evidence of disturbance in each grid cell as either anthropogenic, fire, freeze, or windstorm and categorized the absolute cover of cattail (Typha sp.) and any exotic species present as either: Sparse (10–49%), Dominant (50–89%), or Monotypic (90–100%). A total of 169 thematic classes were used to map Region 3. The most common vegetation class was Mixed Mangrove Forest. This community accounted for approximately 8% of the area mapped. Other notable classes include Short Sawgrass Marsh-Dense (6.1%), Red Mangrove Forest (5.0%), Black Mangrove-Red Mangrove Forest (4.5%), and Red Mangrove Scrub-Open Marsh (4.5%). These five classes plus water, e.g., ponds, lakes, bays, rivers, etc., (26%) account for approximately 54% of the entire area mapped within Region 3. Based on 245 randomly selected points, the accuracy of the Region 3 map was determined to be 89.4% with a lower 90th percentile confidence level of 85.6%.

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’s (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 associated with CERP. This spatial product will serve as a record of baseline vegetation conditions for the purpose of: (1) documenting 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) providing vegetation and land-cover information to NPS park managers and scientists for use in park management, resource management, research, and monitoring. This mapping 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 National Park, Regions 1–4, and three in Big Cypress National Preserve, Regions 5–7. The report focuses on the mapping effort associated with the Northwest Coastal Everglades (NWCE), Region 4 , in Everglades National Park. The NWCE encompasses a total area of 1,278 square kilometers (493.7 square miles [sq mi], or 315,955 ac) and is geographically located to the south of Big Cypress National Preserve, west of Shark River Slough (Region 1), and north of the Southwest Coastal Everglades (Region 3). 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, 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) 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 invasive species detected as either: Sparse (10–49%), Dominant (50–89%), or Monotypic (90–100%). A total of 178 thematic classes were used to map the NWCE. The most common vegetation classes are Mixed Mangrove Forest-Mixed and Transitional Bayhead Shrubland. These two communities accounted for about 10%, each, of the mapping area. Other notable classes include Short Sawgrass Marsh-Dense (8.1% of the map area), Mixed Graminoid Freshwater Marsh (4.7% of the map area), and Black Mangrove Forest (4.5% of the map area). The NWCE vegetation map has a thematic class accuracy of 88.4% with a lower 90th Percentile Confidence Interval of 84.5%.

This dataset consists of a file geodatabase containing the digitized ecotone boundaries between mangroves and freshwater marsh in 2013 and 2019 at 14 systematically selected segments in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park (southwest Florida, USA).

This dataset consists of a file geodatabase containing the digitized ecotone boundaries between mangroves and freshwater marsh in 2013 and 2019 at 14 systematically selected segments in Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park (southwest Florida, USA).

The Everglades National Park 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 Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program (NPS VMI). The goal of this project is to produce a spatially and thematically accurate vegetation map of Everglades National Park (EVER) prior to the completion of restoration efforts associated with CERP. This spatial product will serve as a record of baseline vegetation conditions for the purpose of: (1) documenting changes to the spatial extent, pattern, and proportion of plant communities within EVER as they respond to hydrologic modifications resulting from the implementation of the CERP; and (2) providing vegetation and land-cover information to NPS park managers and scientists for use in resource management, research, and monitoring. The vegetation map of EVER covers an area of 4,482.2 square kilometers (1.108 million acres [ac]) and consists of four mapping regions: Region 1 – Shark River Slough/Long Pine Key; Region 2 – The Southeast Saline Everglades; Region 3 – The Southwest Coastal Everglades; and Region 4 – The Northwest Coastal Everglades. Region 1 was mapped by the SFWMD and USACE while Regions 2-4 were mapped by the South Florida Caribbean Network (SFCN). Photo-interpretation on the map 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, 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) spatial resolution, color-infrared aerial imagery, acquired by the SFWMD in 2009, 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 for this project. Additionally, photo-interpreters categorized the absolute cover of invasive species and cattails (Typha sp.) detected as either: Sparse (10–49%), Dominant (50–89%), or Monotypic (90–100%).

The Everglades National Park 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 Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program (NPS VMI). The goal of this project is to produce a spatially and thematically accurate vegetation map of Everglades National Park (EVER) prior to the completion of restoration efforts associated with CERP. This spatial product will serve as a record of baseline vegetation conditions for the purpose of: (1) documenting changes to the spatial extent, pattern, and proportion of plant communities within EVER as they respond to hydrologic modifications resulting from the implementation of the CERP; and (2) providing vegetation and land-cover information to NPS park managers and scientists for use in resource management, research, and monitoring. The vegetation map of EVER covers an area of 4,482.2 square kilometers (1.108 million acres [ac]) and consists of four mapping regions: Region 1 – Shark River Slough/Long Pine Key; Region 2 – The Southeast Saline Everglades; Region 3 – The Southwest Coastal Everglades; and Region 4 – The Northwest Coastal Everglades. Region 1 was mapped by the SFWMD and USACE while Regions 2-4 were mapped by the South Florida Caribbean Network (SFCN). Photo-interpretation on the map 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, 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) spatial resolution, color-infrared aerial imagery, acquired by the SFWMD in 2009, 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 for this project. Additionally, photo-interpreters categorized the absolute cover of invasive species and cattails (Typha sp.) detected as either: Sparse (10–49%), Dominant (50–89%), or Monotypic (90–100%).

Everglades National Park (EVER), established in 1947, and Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY), established in 1974, are two large conservation areas managed by the National Park Service (NPS) in South Florida. Information on small and medium-sized mammals on these lands is essential for effective protection and management of these species, but prior to 2007, these lands had not been inventoried since the 1950s and little information was available about the mammal species that occurred there. Many factors, both natural and anthropogenic, threaten mammal species in EVER and BICY. Changes in hydrology and habitat as well as threats such as direct competition with and predation by invasive species (i.e., Burmese pythons, Python molurus bivittatus) may affect populations. To address this knowledge gap, an inventory of small and medium-sized mammals was conducted in Everglades National Park (EVER) and Big Cypress National Preserve (BICY) from 2007-2009.