Vegetation Classification and Mapping at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, New Hampshire
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Vegetation Classification and Mapping at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, New Hampshire Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2012/584.1 ON THE COVER Successional Old Field in Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site (SAGA.AA29). Photograph by: Sue Gawler. Vegetation Classification and Mapping at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, New Hampshire Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2012/584.1 Susan C. Gawler1 and Peter S. Bowman2 1NatureServe Eastern Regional Office 11 Avenue de LaFayette Boston, Massachusetts 02111 2New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau P.O. Box 1856 Concord, NH 03301 This report has been modified to remove information of a sensitive nature protected by resource confidentiality laws to make it suitable for public distribution. May 2012 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 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 Technical Report Series is used to disseminate results of scientific studies in the physical, biological, and social sciences for both the advancement of science and the achievement of the National Park Service mission. The series provides contributors with a forum for displaying comprehensive data that are often deleted from journals because of page limitations. 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. This report received informal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data. 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 the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). Please cite this publication as: Gawler, S. C., and P. S. Bowman. 2012. Vegetation classification and mapping at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, New Hampshire. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR— 2012/584.1. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 428/114389, May 2012 iv Contents Page Figures........................................................................................................................................... vii Tables ............................................................................................................................................. ix Appendixes .................................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................ xiii Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... xv Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 USGS/NPS Vegetation Characterization Program ................................................................... 1 U.S. National Vegetation Classification ................................................................................... 2 Project Area .............................................................................................................................. 3 Methods........................................................................................................................................... 9 Planning and Scoping ............................................................................................................... 9 Review of Existing Information................................................................................................ 9 Aerial Photography Acquisition and Processing ...................................................................... 9 Field Data Collection and Classification ................................................................................ 10 Field Survey ...................................................................................................................... 10 2005 Vegetation Classification and Characterization ....................................................... 13 Photointerpretation .................................................................................................................. 14 2005 Vegetation Map Preparation .......................................................................................... 14 Accuracy Assessment ............................................................................................................. 15 Positional Accuracy Assessment ...................................................................................... 15 Thematic Accuracy Assessment ....................................................................................... 17 Final Vegetation Classification and Revised Final 2007 Map Preparation ............................ 20 v Contents (continued) Page Results ........................................................................................................................................... 21 2005 Vegetation Map Production ........................................................................................... 21 Accuracy Assessment ............................................................................................................. 24 Positional Accuracy .......................................................................................................... 24 Thematic Accuracy ........................................................................................................... 24 Final 2007 Vegetation Map Production .................................................................................. 24 Vegetation Association Descriptions ...................................................................................... 28 Project Deliverables ................................................................................................................ 28 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 31 Final Vegetation Classification and Characterization............................................................. 31 Upland Forest Vegetation ................................................................................................. 31 Wetland Vegetation .......................................................................................................... 32 Ruderal Vegetation ........................................................................................................... 33 Altered Vegetation and Other Land-cover Classes ........................................................... 33 Plant Species Records ....................................................................................................... 33 Rare Plant Species............................................................................................................. 33 Nonnative Plant Species ................................................................................................... 33 Management Considerations ............................................................................................. 35 Vegetation Map Production .................................................................................................... 35 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 36 Literature Cited ............................................................................................................................. 37 vi Figures Page Figure 1. Location of Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in the Lower New England/Northern Piedmont ecoregion........................................................................................... 4 Figure 2. Topography and waterbodies at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. ........................ 6 Figure 3. Location of the 25 vegetation plots sampled at Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site for vegetation classification and mapping. .............................................................. 12 Figure 4. Ground control points used to calculate horizontal positional accuracy of the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site mosaic (image provided by NCSU). ...................... 16 Figure 5. Locations of the 17 accuracy assessment sampling points in Saint- Gaudens