Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project Report
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USGS-NPS National Vegetation Mapping Program: Wupatki National Monument, Arizona, Vegetation Classification and Distribution By Monica Hansen1, Janet Coles2, Kathryn A. Thomas1, Daniel Cogan2, Marion Reid3, Jim Von Loh2, and Keith Schulz3 U.S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SOUTHWEST BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE CENTER Final Report Prepared for: USGS-NPS National Vegetation Mapping Program 1Colorado Plateau Research Station Southwest Biological Science Center U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Flagstaff, AZ 2Remote Sensing and GIS Group U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Denver, Colorado 3NatureServe Boulder, Colorado Flagstaff, Arizona 2004 UGSG-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Wupatki National Monument TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ 3 LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... 4 LIST OF CONTACTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ...................................................................... 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS ............................................................................. 8 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 9 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................... 11 2. VEGETATION MAPPING PROJECT AREA ................................................................... 13 LOCATION AND REGIONAL SETTING ......................................................................................... 14 CLIMATE.................................................................................................................................. 15 GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY................................................................................................... 15 WILDLIFE................................................................................................................................. 18 VEGETATION............................................................................................................................ 19 LAND USE ................................................................................................................................ 22 3. METHODS .............................................................................................................................. 23 PROJECT SCOPING AND PLANNING............................................................................................ 23 PRELIMINARY DATA COLLECTION AND REVIEW OF EXISTING INFORMATION ............................ 25 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND BASE MAP ACQUISITION............................................................... 25 SAMPLING DESIGN DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................... 26 FIELD DATA COLLECTION......................................................................................................... 26 VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION......................................................... 28 VEGETATION MAP PREPARATION ............................................................................................. 29 ACCURACY ASSESSMENT ......................................................................................................... 32 4. RESULTS ................................................................................................................................ 37 FIELD SURVEYS........................................................................................................................ 37 VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION ................................................................................................. 38 MAP CLASSES AND AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY INTERPRETATION .................................................. 42 GIS DATABASE AND MAPS ....................................................................................................... 51 ACCURACY ASSESSMENT ......................................................................................................... 53 5. DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................... 61 VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION AND MAP CLASS DEVELOPMENT ............................................... 62 ACCURACY ASSESSMENT ......................................................................................................... 64 APPLICATIONS ......................................................................................................................... 64 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................... 65 7. GLOSSSRY ............................................................................................................................. 68 GLOSSRY LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................... 81 1 UGSG-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Wupatki National Monument APPENDIX A ............................................................................................................................ A-1 A. CD-ROM README TEXT AND CD-ROM ............................................................................ A-2 APPENDIX B ............................................................................................................................ B-1 B. PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE AVERAGES FOR WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT (AUGUST AND JANUARY 1949 – 2002) .................................................................................. B-2 APPENDIX C ............................................................................................................................ C-1 C. FLOWCHART OF USGS-NPS NATIONAL PARKS VEGETATION MAPPING PROGRAM.......... C-1 APPENDIX D ............................................................................................................................ D-1 D. PHOTOINTERPRETATION OBSERVATIONS, CLASSIFICATION RELEVÉS, AND ACCURACY ASSESSMENT OBSERVATIONS FORMS .................................................................................... D-2 APPENDIX E ............................................................................................................................ E-1 E. FIELD KEY FOR THE WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT VEGETATION COMMUNITY DESCRIPTIONS AND MAP CLASSES......................................................................................... E-2 APPENDIX F............................................................................................................................. F-1 F. NATIONAL VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION (NVC) LOCAL AND GLOBAL DESCRIPTIONS FOR WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT ..........................................................................................F-2 APPENDIX G............................................................................................................................G-1 G. WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT SPECIES LIST ............................................................... G-2 APPENDIX H............................................................................................................................H-1 H. VISUAL GUIDE AND DESCRIPTIONS OF THE WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT MAP CLASSES ................................................................................................................................H-2 2 UGSG-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Wupatki National Monument LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1. USGS-NPS VEGETATION MAPPING PROGRAM CRITERIA USED FOR DETERMINING SAMPLING NUMBERS IN THE ACCURACY ASSESSMENT............................................................ 33 TABLE 2. DEFINITIONS USED IN THE ‘FUZZY SET’ ANALYSIS CLASSIFICATIONS AT WUPA ............ 35 TABLE 3. WUPA NATIONAL VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION ASSIGNMENTS .................................. 38 TABLE 4. WUPA MAP CLASSES AND THEIR NVC COMPONENTS .................................................... 42 TABLE 5. MAP CLASS OCCURRENCE IN WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT AND ENVIRONS ............ 52 TABLE 6. MAP CLASS PERFORMANCE............................................................................................. 54 TABLE 7. ACCURACY ASSESSMENT CONTINGENCY TABLE (CRITERIA 5, EXACT MATCH) AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF REFERENCE DATA WITH MAP CLASS DATA..................................... 58 TABLE 8. ACCURACY ASSESSMENT CONTINGENCY TABLE (CRITERIA 4, ACCEPTABLE ACCURACY) AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF REFERENCE DATA WITH MAP CLASS DATA............................. 59 TABLE 9. ACCURACY ASSESSMENT CONTINGENCY TABLE (CRTIERIA 3, UNDERSTANDABLE ACCURACY) AND STATISCAL ANAYLSIS OF REFERENCE DATA WITH MAP CLASS DATA ............ 60 3 UGSG-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Wupatki National Monument LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. LOCATION OF WUPATKI NATIONAL MONUMENT .......................................................... 13 FIGURE 2. WUPA VEGETATION MAP PROJECT BOUNDARIES AND LAND OWNERSHIP...................... 14 FIGURE 3. SHADED RELIEF MAP OF THE WUPA VEGETATION MAP PROJECT AREA ......................... 17 FIGURE 4. VEGETATION TYPICAL OF WUPA INCLUDES A) SPARSELY VEGETATED SANDSTONE OUTCROPS, B) OPEN ONESEED JUNIPER (JUNIPERUS MONOSPERMA) WOODLANDS, C) GRASSLANDS, D) SPARSELY VEGETATED BADLANDS,