Vegetation Classification and Mapping of Morristown National Historical Park, New Jersey
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Northeast Region Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Vegetation Classification and Mapping of Morristown National Historical Park, New Jersey Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2008/116 ON THE COVER Southern New England Red Maple Seepage Swamp in Morristown National Historical Park. Photograph by: Stephanie Perles. Vegetation Classification and Mapping of Morristown National Historical Park, New Jersey Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2008/116 Lesley Sneddon1, Robert E. Zaremba2, Ery Largay1, Greg Podniesinski3, Stephanie Perles3, and John Thompson4 1NatureServe 11 Avenue de Lafayette Boston, MA 02111 2Box 607 1409 Main Street Chatham, MA 02633 3Western Pennsylvania Conservancy 209 Fourth Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 4Aerial Photograph Interpretation 558 Main Street St. Remy, NY 12401 April 2008 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Northeast Region Philadelphia, PA The Northeast Region of the National Park Service (NPS) comprises national parks and related areas in 13 New England and Mid-Atlantic states. The diversity of parks and their resources are reflected in their designations as national parks, seashores, historic sites, recreation areas, military parks, memorials, and rivers and trails. Biological, physical, and social science research results, natural resource inventory and monitoring data, scientific literature reviews, bibliographies, and proceedings of technical workshops and conferences related to these park units are disseminated through the NPS/NER Technical Report (NRTR) and Natural Resources Report (NRR) series. The reports are a continuation of series with previous acronyms of NPS/PHSO, NPS/MAR, NPS/BSO-RNR, and NPS/NERBOST. Individual parks may also disseminate information through their own report series. Natural Resources Reports are the designated medium for information on technologies and resource management methods; "how to" resource management papers; proceedings of resource management workshops or conferences; and natural resource program descriptions and resource action plans. Technical Reports are the designated medium for initially disseminating data and results of biological, physical, and social science research that addresses natural resource management issues; natural resource inventories and monitoring activities; scientific literature reviews; bibliographies; and peer-reviewed proceedings of technical workshops, conferences, or symposia. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. This report was accomplished under Cooperative Agreement 4560–B-0009 with assistance from the NPS. The statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report are solely those of the author(s), and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Print copies of reports in these series, produced in limited quantity and only available as long as the supply lasts, or preferably, file copies on CD, may be obtained by sending a request to the address on the back cover. Print copies also may be requested from the NPS Technical Information Center (TIC), Denver Service Center, PO Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225-0287. A copy charge may be involved. To order from TIC, refer to document D-116. This report may also be available as a downloadable portable document format file from the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/nero/science/. Please cite this publication as: Sneddon, L., R.E. Zaremba, E. Largay, G. Podniesinski, S. Perles and J. Thompson. 2008. Vegetation Classification and Mapping of Morristown National Historical Park, New Jersey. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR— 2008/116. National Park Service. Philadelphia, PA. NPS D-116, April 2008 ii Table of Contents Page Figures............................................................................................................................................. v Tables............................................................................................................................................ vii Appendixes .................................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... xi Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................xiii Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1 General Background ................................................................................................................. 1 Park-specific Information ......................................................................................................... 2 Project Area .................................................................................................................................... 5 Location and Regional Setting.................................................................................................. 5 Park Environmental Attributes and Site History ...................................................................... 5 Materials and Methods.................................................................................................................... 7 Planning and Scoping ............................................................................................................... 7 Preliminary Data Collection and Review of Existing Information........................................... 7 Aerial Photography Acquisition and Processing ...................................................................... 8 Photointerpretation and Preliminary Vegetation Map Preparation........................................... 8 Field Data Collection and Classification .................................................................................. 8 Vegetation Map Preparation ................................................................................................... 13 Results........................................................................................................................................... 23 Vegetation Classification and Characterization...................................................................... 23 Association Descriptions ........................................................................................................ 25 Association-level Vegetation Map Production ....................................................................... 97 Accuracy Assessment ............................................................................................................. 98 iii Project Deliverables.............................................................................................................. 104 Discussion................................................................................................................................... 105 Vegetation Classification and Characterization.................................................................... 105 Vegetation Map Production .................................................................................................. 108 Accuracy Assessment ........................................................................................................... 108 Recommendations for Future Projects.................................................................................. 109 Literature Cited ........................................................................................................................... 111 iv Figures Page Figure 1. Location of Morristown National Historical Park in the Lower New England/Northern Piedmont Ecoregion.......................................................................................... 6 Figure 2. Locations of 22 plots sampled in the Jockey Hollow and New Jersey Brigade units of Morristown National Historical Park................................................................. 11 Figure 3. Mapping observation points in the New Jersey Brigade Unit of Morristown National Historical Park............................................................................................ 15 Figure 4. Mapping observation points in the Jockey Hollow Unit of Morristown National Historical Park................................................................................................................ 16 Figure 5. Location of accuracy assessment points in Morristown National Historical Park, Jockey Hollow Unit. ........................................................................................... 20 Figure 6. Location of accuracy assessment points in Morristown National Historical Park, Jockey Hollow (Detail)....................................................................................... 21 Figure 7. Location of accuracy assessment points in Morristown National Historical Park, New Jersey Brigade Unit. ................................................................................... 22 Figure 8. Tuliptree - Beech - Maple Forest in Morristown National Historical Park (plot MORR.19, photo 19-1). ....................................................................................................... 30 Figure 9. Northern Piedmont Mesic Oak - Beech Forest in Morristown National Historical Park (plot MORR.06,