Fort Larned National Historic Site Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Southern Plains Network Johnson City, TX Fort Larned National Historic Site Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project Natural Resource Report___________________________ ON THE COVER Aerial views of Fort Larned and the Santa Fe Trail Ruts Site. Photographs by: NPS Fort Larned National Historic Site Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project Natural Resource Report _______________________________ Authors Dan Cogan Cogan Technology Inc. 21 Valley Road Galena, IL 61036 David Salas U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Group Mail Stop 86-68260 P.O. Box 25007 Denver Federal Center Bldg. 56 Denver, Colorado 80225 Lisa M. Castle Walker, Hillary Loring and Jennifer Delisle Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory Kansas Biological Survey 2102 Constant Ave. Lawrence, KS 66047 January 2007 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Southern Plains Network Johnson City, TX i The Natural Resource Publication series addresses natural resource topics that are of interest and applicability to a broad readership in the National Park Service and to others in the management of natural resources, including the scientific community, the public, and the NPS conservation and environmental constituencies. Manuscripts are peer-reviewed to ensure that the information is scientifically credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and is designed and published in a professional manner. Natural Resource Reports are the designated medium for disseminating 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. Examples of the diverse array of reports published in this series include vital signs monitoring plans; "how to" resource management papers; proceedings of resource management workshops or conferences; annual reports of resource programs or divisions of the Natural Resource Program Center; resource action plans; fact sheets; and regularly-published newsletters. Views and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect policies of the National Park Service. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. Printed copies of reports in these series may be produced in a limited quantity and they are only available as long as the supply lasts. This report is also available from the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping website (http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg) on the internet, or by sending a request to the address on the back cover. Please cite this publication as: Cogan, D., D. Salas, L.Walker, H. Loring and J Delisle. 2006 Fort Larned National Historic Site Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project Natural Resource Report NPS/MWR/HTLN/NRR—2006/001. National Park Service, Johnson City, Texas NPS D-XXX, Month Year ii Contents Page Contents .........................................................................................................................................iii Figures............................................................................................................................................ iv Tables............................................................................................................................................. iv List of Contacts and Contributors................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements......................................................................................................................... 6 List of Abbreviation and Acronyms ...............................................................................................7 Links ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Executive Summary........................................................................................................................ 8 Project Statistics............................................................................................................................ 10 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 11 Background................................................................................................................................... 11 Scope of Work .............................................................................................................................. 16 Methods......................................................................................................................................... 16 Results........................................................................................................................................... 31 Discussion..................................................................................................................................... 39 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................. 42 APPENDIX A: Components and Flow Diagram of the Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program......................................................................................................................................... 44 APPENDIX B: Field Data Forms and Instructions ...................................................................... 45 APPENDIX C: Dichotomous Key to FOLS Plant Associations .................................................. 63 APPENDIX D: Vegetation Association Descriptions for FOLS.................................................. 65 APPENDIX E: FOLS Species List............................................................................................... 86 APPENDIX F: Photo Interpretation Mapping Conventions and Visual Key............................... 90 iii Figures Figure 1. Map of SOPN showing the location of the park units in the network........................... 14 Figure 2. Map of the vegetation project boundary and park boundaries. ..................................... 17 Figure 3. Location of all vegetation plots collected at FOLS in 2005.......................................... 21 Figure 4. Location of all observation and incidental points collected at FOLS in 2006. ............. 22 Figure 5. Examples of the NAIP 2005 and the 2005 CIR imagery for Fort Larned..................... 24 Figure 6. Location of all accuracy assessment points collected at FOLS in 2006........................ 29 Tables Table 1. Polygon attribute items and descriptions used in the FOLS GIS coverage.................... 26 Table 2. Target number of AA samples per map class based on number of polygons and area. 27 Table 3. Summary of the AA Statistics used at FOLS. ................................................................ 30 Table 4. List of NVC Plant Associations and Alliances found at FOLS...................................... 32 Table 5. Map units identified in FOLS. ........................................................................................ 33 Table 6. Total acreage and frequency of map units for FOLS...................................................... 36 Table 7. Contingency table (error matrix) for vegetation mapping at FOLS. .............................. 38 iv List of Contacts and Contributors U. S. Department of the Interior - U. S. National Park Service Karl Brown Ph. D. Dusty Perkins Felix Revello Vegetation Mapping Program Manager S. Plains Network Coordinator FOLS Chief Ranger 1201 Oakridge Drive, Suite 200 P.O. Box 329, 100 Ladybird Lane PO Box 890 Fort Collins, CO 80525 Johnson City, TX 78636 Cheyenne, OK 73628 Phone: 970-225-3591 Phone: 830-868-7128 ext. 281 Phone: 580 497-2742 x1 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory Jim Drake - NatureServe Dan Cogan - Cogan Tech. Inc. Kelly Kindscher - KSNHI Regional Vegetation Ecologist Scientist and GIS Specialist Community Ecologist 1101 West River Parkway Suite 200 21 Valley Road 2102 Constant Ave. Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415 Galena, IL 61036 Lawrence, KS 66047 Phone: 612-331-0729 Phone: 815-777-1773 Phone: 785-864-1500 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] U. S. Department of the Interior - United States Geological Survey - Biological Resources Division Mike Mulligan Theresa Singh USGS Program Coordinator Website and Data Manager USGS-Center for Biological Informatics (CBI) USGS-Center for Biological Informatics Phone: 303-202-4242 Phone: 303-202-4227 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] U. S. Department of the Interior - Bureau of Reclamation Michael Pucherelli David E. Salas Group Manager GIS / Remote Sensing Group Physical Scientist P.O. Box 25007 Mail Stop 86-68260 Phone 303-445-3619 Denver Federal Center - Bldg. 56 Fax: 303-445-6337 Denver, CO 80225 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 303-445-2267 E-mail: [email protected] Others: Heidi Sosinski - Southern Plains Network, and Chris Lea - NPS Botanist Vegetation Mapping Program. v Acknowledgements This project directly reflects the tireless leadership and diligent efforts of Dusty