Plant Associations and Descriptions for American Memorial Park, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Vegetation Inventory Project American Memorial Park Natural Resource Report NPS/PACN/NRR—2013/744 ON THE COVER Coastal shoreline at American Memorial Park Photograph by: David Benitez Vegetation Inventory Project American Memorial Park Natural Resource Report NPS/PACN/NRR—2013/744 Dan Cogan1, Gwen Kittel2, Meagan Selvig3, Alison Ainsworth4, David Benitez5 1Cogan Technology, Inc. 21 Valley Road Galena, IL 61036 2NatureServe 2108 55th Street, Suite 220 Boulder, CO 80301 3Hawaii-Pacific Islands Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (HPI-CESU) University of Hawaii at Hilo 200 W. Kawili St. Hilo, HI 96720 4National Park Service Pacific Island Network – Inventory and Monitoring PO Box 52 Hawaii National Park, HI 96718 5National Park Service Hawaii Volcanoes National Park – Resources Management PO Box 52 Hawaii National Park, HI 96718 December 2013 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 high-priority, current natural resource management information with managerial application. The series targets a general, diverse audience, and may contain NPS policy considerations or address sensitive issues of management applicability. 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 from NPS Inventory and Monitoring, Pacific Island Network (http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/uites/pacn/index.cfm) 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: Cogan, D., G. Kittel, M. Selvig, A. Ainsworth, and D. Benitez. 2013. Vegetation Inventory Project: American Memorial Park. Natural Resource Report NPS/PACN/NRR—2013/744. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 483/123174, December 2013 ii Contents Page Figures............................................................................................................................................. v Tables ............................................................................................................................................ vii Appendices ..................................................................................................................................... ix Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................ xiii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 National Vegetation Inventory Program .................................................................................. 1 National Vegetation Classification Standard ........................................................................... 2 Pacific Island Network, Inventory and Monitoring Program .................................................. 4 American Memorial Park ........................................................................................................ 5 Natural Setting .................................................................................................................... 5 Vegetation ........................................................................................................................... 8 Non-native Vegetation Control and Restoration ............................................................... 11 Vegetation Inventory Project ................................................................................................. 13 Scope of Work ....................................................................................................................... 14 Methods......................................................................................................................................... 17 Planning, Data Gathering and Coordination .......................................................................... 17 NPS-PACN ....................................................................................................................... 17 NatureServe (Western Regional Office) ........................................................................... 18 Cogan Technology, Inc. .................................................................................................... 18 Field Surveys ......................................................................................................................... 19 Vegetation Classification ....................................................................................................... 23 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 24 iii Digital Imagery and Mapping ................................................................................................ 24 Accuracy Assessment ............................................................................................................ 27 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 33 Vegetation Classification ....................................................................................................... 33 Digital Imagery and Mapping ................................................................................................ 36 Vegetation Map ..................................................................................................................... 37 Accuracy Assessment ............................................................................................................ 42 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 47 Field Survey ........................................................................................................................... 48 Classification ......................................................................................................................... 48 Digital Imagery and Mapping ................................................................................................ 50 Accuracy Assessment ............................................................................................................ 50 Future Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 50 Research Opportunities .......................................................................................................... 52 iv Figures Page Figure 1. The 11 national parks included within the Pacific Island Network. ............................... 5 Figure 2. NPS American Memorial Park map. .............................................................................. 7 Figure 3. Representative landforms at AMME. Intertidal (top) and beach, strand, and coastal (bottom). ............................................................................................................................. 9 Figure 4. 3D overview image of AMME and surrounding areas showing vegetation patterns and landscape features. .................................................................................................... 12 Figure 5. Representative cross-section of AMME’s topography showing life zones. ................. 11 Figure 6. Ground photo examples of AMME’s more prominent vegetation communities. ................................................................................................................................. 13 Figure 7. The vegetation mapping project boundary and AMME park boundary. ...................... 15 Figure 8. Location of vegetation plots and observation points collected at AMME. .................. 22 Figure 9. Left: Photo from Observation Point AMME.0907. ...................................................... 24 Figure 10. Examples of the Ikonos 2003 and Quickbird 2006 imagery for AMME. .................. 26 Figure 11. Location of accuracy assessment points collected at