Vegetation Mapping at Cape Lookout National Seashore
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Vegetation Mapping at Cape Lookout National Seashore Natural Resource Report NPS/SECN/NRR—2017/1561 ON THE COVER The Cape Lookout Lighthouse. Photograph by Rachel McManamay Vegetation Mapping at Cape Lookout National Seashore Natural Resource Report NPS/SECN/NRR—2017/1561 Rachel H. McManamay National Park Service Southeast Coast Inventory & Monitoring Network 135 Phoenix Road Athens, GA 30605 December 2017 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado, publishes a range of reports that address natural resource topics. These reports are of interest and applicability to a broad audience in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and environmental constituencies, and the public. The Natural Resource Report Series is used to disseminate comprehensive information and analysis about natural resources and related topics concerning lands managed by the National Park Service. The series supports the advancement of science, informed decision-making, and the achievement of the National Park Service mission. The series also provides a forum for presenting more lengthy results that may not be accepted by publications with page limitations. All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. This report received informal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data. Data in this report were collected and analyzed using methods based on established, peer-reviewed protocols and were analyzed and interpreted within the guidelines of the protocols. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U.S. Government. This report is available in digital format from the Southeast Coast Network website and the Natural Resource Publications Management website. To receive this report in a format optimized for screen readers, please email [email protected]. Please cite this publication as: McManamay, R. H. 2017. Vegetation mapping at Cape Lookout National Seashore. Natural Resource Report NPS/SECN/NRR—2017/1561. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 963/141296, December 2017 ii Contents Page Figures .................................................................................................................................................... v Tables ................................................................................................................................................... vii Appendices ............................................................................................................................................ ix Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. xi Acknowledgments ...............................................................................................................................xiii Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Cape Lookout National Seashore Vegetation Mapping Project ..................................................... 1 The Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program ................................................................................. 1 Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program Standards ....................................................................... 1 National Vegetation Classification Standard .................................................................................. 2 Federal Geographic Data Committee Standards ............................................................................ 3 Methods .................................................................................................................................................. 5 Study Area ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Location ..................................................................................................................................... 5 History ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Vegetation ................................................................................................................................. 6 Climate and Weather ............................................................................................................... 10 Storm Events During Vegetation Mapping ............................................................................. 11 Identifying the Effects of Hurricane Irene on the Vegetation Map Layer at Cape Lookout ................................................................................................................................... 15 Project Scoping and Planning ....................................................................................................... 16 Project Boundary Extent .......................................................................................................... 16 Field Survey ................................................................................................................................. 16 Location and Plot Identifiers ................................................................................................... 17 Environmental Description ...................................................................................................... 17 Vegetation Description ............................................................................................................ 18 iii Contents (continued) Page Other Ancillary Information Useful to Classification ............................................................. 18 Vegetation Classification .............................................................................................................. 18 Final Map Classifications ........................................................................................................ 19 Digital Imagery and Interpretation ............................................................................................... 20 Aerial Photography Acquisition and Processing ..................................................................... 20 Preliminary Photo-Interpretation ............................................................................................. 21 Field Reconnaissance .............................................................................................................. 22 Photo-Interpretation and Polygon Attribution ......................................................................... 22 Field Verification..................................................................................................................... 23 Accuracy Assessment ................................................................................................................... 23 Sampling Design ..................................................................................................................... 24 Field Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 26 Data Analysis .......................................................................................................................... 26 Results .................................................................................................................................................. 29 Vegetation Classification .............................................................................................................. 29 Digital Imagery and Interpretation ............................................................................................... 29 Vegetation Map ............................................................................................................................ 30 Map Layer Presentation ........................................................................................................... 32 Accuracy Assessment ................................................................................................................... 33 Users’ Accuracy (Errors of Commission) ............................................................................... 33 Producers’ Accuracy (Errors of Omission) ............................................................................. 34 Literature Cited .................................................................................................................................... 37 iv Figures Page Figure 1. Location of Cape Lookout National Seashore in southeastern North Carolina (bottom left inset map courtesy of NPS.gov). .......................................................................................