Vegetation Classification and Mapping of Peoria Wildlife Area, South of New Melones Lake, Tuolumne County, California
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Vegetation classification and mapping of Peoria Wildlife Area, South of New Melones Lake, Tuolumne County, California By Julie M. Evens, Sau San, and Jeanne Taylor Of California Native Plant Society 2707 K Street, Suite 1 Sacramento, CA 95816 In Collaboration with John Menke Of Aerial Information Systems 112 First Street Redlands, CA 92373 November 2004 Table of Contents Introduction.................................................................................................................................................... 1 Vegetation Classification Methods................................................................................................................ 1 Study Area ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Figure 1. Survey area including Peoria Wildlife Area and Table Mountain .................................................. 2 Sampling ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Figure 2. Locations of the field surveys. ....................................................................................................... 4 Existing Literature Review ......................................................................................................................... 5 Cluster Analyses for Vegetation Classification .......................................................................................... 6 Classification and Key................................................................................................................................ 8 Description Writing..................................................................................................................................... 8 Vegetation Mapping and Accuracy Assessment Methods.......................................................................... 10 Vegetation Mapping ............................................................................................................................. 10 Constructs of Vegetation Map Accuracy Assessment......................................................................... 10 Random Selection of Locations for Accuracy Assessment ................................................................. 11 Results ........................................................................................................................................................ 12 Vegetation Sampling Characteristics................................................................................................... 12 Non-native Species.............................................................................................................................. 13 Ailanthus altissima (Ailanthus) ......................................................................................................... 13 Carduus pycnocephalus (Italian Thistle).......................................................................................... 14 Centaurea melitensis (Maltese Star-thistle) ..................................................................................... 14 Centaurea solstitialis (Yellow Star-thistle)........................................................................................ 14 Ficus carica (Edible Fig)...................................................................................................................15 Taeniatherum caput-medusae (Medusahead)................................................................................. 15 Classification ............................................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 3. Example of the cluster analysis showing the arrangement and relationship of plots in the clustering diagram and their final names is shown in the following figure.. ................................................ 17 Table 1. List of the floristic classification (alliances and associations) with geologic substrate and sample size attributed per association........................................................................................................ 18 Implementation of the mapping classification and accuracy assessment........................................... 21 Table 2. Peoria Wildlife Area / Table Mountain - vegetation mapping classification and codes ............... 22 Table 3. List of the Mapping Units used in the mapping classification with the translation to the floristic classification and the Accuracy Assessment (AA).......................................................................... 24 Table 4. Average Accuracy Assessment score and number of samples per Mapping Unit....................... 27 Crosswalks To Other Classifications .......................................................................................................... 28 Key .............................................................................................................................................................. 28 Table 5. Crosswalk of classifications between the Associations in the Floristic National Vegetation Classification (NVC) and potential Holland (1986) and WHR (Mayer and Laudenslayer 1988) types...... 29 Table 6: Field key to the defined vegetation Associations from Peoria Wildlife Area, Tuolumne County, California........................................................................................................................................ 31 Class A. Tree Overstory Vegetation .................................................................................................... 31 Class B. Shrubland Vegetation............................................................................................................ 34 i Class C. Herbaceous Vegetation......................................................................................................... 35 Vegetation Descriptions .............................................................................................................................. 38 Tree-Overstory Vegetation.......................................................................................................................... 38 Aesculus californica/Toxicodendron diversilobum/Moss Association (new provisional) ............................ 38 Pinus sabiniana/Ceanothus cuneatus/Plantago erecta Association (new provisional) .............................. 41 Pinus sabiniana/Ceanothus cuneatus-Heteromeles arbutifolia/Annual Grass-Herb Association (new provisional).................................................................................................................................................. 44 Quercus douglasii/Annual Grass-Herb (Brachypodium distachyon) Association (new)............................. 46 Quercus douglasii/Annual Grass-Herb (Bromus hordeaceus-Lolium multiflorum) Association (new provisional).................................................................................................................................................. 48 Quercus douglasii/Annual Grass-Herb (Bromus hordeaceus-Madia gracilis) Association (new provisional).................................................................................................................................................. 51 Quercus douglasii/Annual Grass-Herb (Bromus hordeaceus-Triteleia laxa) Association (new) ................ 54 Quercus douglasii/Toxicodendron diversilobum/Annual Grass-Herb Association...................................... 57 Quercus douglasii-Aesculus californica/Annual Grass-Herb Association (new provisional) ...................... 60 Quercus douglasii-Aesculus californica/Asclepias fascicularis/Rorippa sp. Association (new provisional).................................................................................................................................................. 63 Quercus douglasii-Pinus sabiniana/Annual Grass-Herb Association ......................................................... 65 Quercus wislizeni/Heteromeles arbutifolia Association .............................................................................. 68 Quercus wislizeni/Toxicodendron diversilobum Association (new) ............................................................ 70 Quercus wislizeni-Aesculus californica/Toxicodendron diversilobum Association (new provisional)......... 73 Quercus wislizeni-Pinus sabiniana/Annual Grass-Herb Association.......................................................... 76 Quercus wislizeni-Quercus douglasii/Toxicodendron diversilobum/Annual grass Association .................. 78 Quercus wislizeni-Quercus douglasii-Pinus sabiniana/Toxicodendron diversilobum/Annual Grass- Herb Association (new provisional)............................................................................................................. 81 Quercus wislizeni-Quercus kelloggii/Heteromeles arbutifolia-Toxicodendron diversilobum Association (new provisional) ..................................................................................................................... 84 Shrub-Overstory Vegetation........................................................................................................................ 87 Adenostoma fasciculatum/Annual Grass-Herb-Moss Association (new provisional) ................................. 87 Adenostoma fasciculatum/Castilleja pruinosa-Annual Grass-Herb Association (new