Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project National Park of American Samoa
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project National Park of American Samoa Natural Resource Report NPS/PACN/NRR—2015/984 ON THE COVER The forests of the south side of Mt. Lata on Ta‘ū Island in the National Park of American Samoa. Photograph by: Kass Green Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project National Park of American Samoa Natural Resource Report NPS/PACN/NRR—2015/984 Kass Green1, Gwen Kittel2, Chad Lopez3, Alison Ainsworth4, Meagan Selvig5, Visa Vaivai4, Kathryn Akamine5, Mark Tukman6 and Greg Kudray4. 1Kass Green & Associates 1101 High Court Berkeley, CA 94708 2NatureServe 2108 55th Street, Suite 220 Boulder, CO 80301 3Quantum Spatial 10033 Martin Luther King Street, Suite 200 St. Petersburg, Florida 33716 4National Park Service Pacific Island Network – Inventory and Monitoring PO Box 52 Hawaii National Park, HI 96718 5Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU) University of Hawaii at Hilo 200 W. Kawili St. Hilo, HI 96720 6Tukman Geospatial LLC 2700 Bennett Ridge Road, Santa Rosa, CA July, 2015 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. 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 Pacific Island Network website (http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/pacn/), and the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). To receive this report in a format optimized for screen readers, please email [email protected]. Please cite this publication as: Green, K., G. Kittel, C. Lopez, A. Ainsworth, M. Selvig, V. Vaivai, K. Akamine, M. Tukman, and G. Kudray. 2015. Vegetation mapping inventory project: National Park of American Samoa. Natural Resource Report NPS/PACN/NRR—2015/984. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 126/128944, July 2015 ii Contents Page Figures.................................................................................................................................................. vii Tables .................................................................................................................................................... ix Appendices or Appendixes .................................................................................................................... x Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. xi Acknowledgments ...............................................................................................................................xiii Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 Vegetation Classification and Mapping, National Park of American Samoa ................................ 1 National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program ............................................................ 2 Overview ................................................................................................................................... 2 NPS Guidance for Vegetation Inventories ................................................................................ 3 National Vegetation Classification Standard ............................................................................. 4 Project Partners’ Roles and Responsibilities .................................................................................. 6 Pacific Island Network, Inventory and Monitoring Program .................................................... 6 NatureServe ............................................................................................................................... 8 Kass Green & Associates .......................................................................................................... 9 National Park of American Samoa ................................................................................................. 9 Location and Setting .................................................................................................................. 9 History ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Vegetation Studies at the National Park of American Samoa ................................................. 16 Vegetation Classification and Mapping Methods ................................................................................ 19 Development of the Proposal and Study Plan (Steps 1-3)............................................................ 19 Classification Sampling Design and Data Collection (Step 4) ..................................................... 19 Sampling Design ..................................................................................................................... 19 Field Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 20 Quality Control ........................................................................................................................ 21 iii Contents (continued) Page Development of Vegetation Classification, Vegetation Type Descriptions and Field Key (Step 5) .................................................................................................................................. 24 Acquire and Prepare Imagery (Step 7) ......................................................................................... 28 Imagery Analysis / Classification (Step 8) / GIS Project Preparation (Step 9) ............................ 28 Image Segmentation ................................................................................................................ 30 Collect and Process Ancillary Data ......................................................................................... 30 Calibration Trip ....................................................................................................................... 32 Creation of the Classification and Regression Tree (CART) Sample Database ..................... 34 CART Modeling ...................................................................................................................... 34 Editing ..................................................................................................................................... 35 Draft Map and Digital Database Production ........................................................................... 35 Formal Accuracy Assessment (Step 11) ....................................................................................... 36 Sampling Design ..................................................................................................................... 40 Field Data Collection ............................................................................................................... 41 Quality Control ........................................................................................................................ 45 Analysis ................................................................................................................................... 45 Validation (Step 10) ..................................................................................................................... 46 Develop the Mapping Model (Step 6) .......................................................................................... 46 Final Map, Reports, and GIS Database (Step 12)......................................................................... 47 Results .................................................................................................................................................. 49 Vegetation Sampling ...................................................................................................................