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Vegetation Classification and Distribution Mapping Report National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Vegetation Classifi cation and Distribution Mapping Report Mesa Verde National Park Natural Resource Report NPS/SCPN/NRR—2009/112 ON THE COVER Mesa Verde National Park with La Plata Mountains in the background. Courtesy Southwest Biological Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey. Vegetation Classifi cation and Distribution Mapping Report Mesa Verde National Park Natural Resource Report NPS/SCPN/NRR—2009/112 Authors Kathryn A. Thomas Tammy Fancher U.S. Geological Survey Robert Waltermire Southwest Biological Science Center U.S. Geological Survey Tucson, Arizona Fort Collins Science Center Denver, Colorado Monica L. McTeague Northern Arizona University Anne Cully Flagstaff, Arizona National Park Service Southern Colorado Plateau Network Lindsay Ogden Northern Arizona University Arctic Slope Regional Corporation Management Services PO Box 5765 Fort Collins, Colorado Flagstaff, Arizona M. Lisa Floyd Project Coordinators Prescott College Anne Cully and Monica L. McTeague Prescott, Arizona Editing and Design Keith Schulz Alice Wondrak Biel NatureServe National Park Service Boulder, Colorado Inventory & Monitoring Program Intermountain Region Beverly Friesen Denver, Colorado U.S. Geological Survey Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center Denver, Colorado May 2009 U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service Natural Resource Program Center Fort Collins, Colorado The National Park Service, Natural Resource Program Center 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, con- servation 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 in- formation is scientifi cally credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a professional manner. This report received formal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly involved in the collection, analy- sis, or reporting of the data, and whose background and expertise put them on par technically and scientifi cally with the authors of the information. Views, statements, fi ndings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily refl ect 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 National Park Service. This report is available from the Southern Colorado Plateau Network website, http://www. nature.nps.gov/im/units/SCPN, as well as at the Natural Resource Publications Management web site, http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/NRPM, and the USGS-NPS Vegetation Characterization Program website, http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg. Please cite this publication as: Thomas, K. A., M. L. McTeague, L. Ogden, M. L. Floyd, K. Schulz, B. Friesen, T. Fancher, R. Waltermire, and A. Cully. 2009. Vegetation classifi cation and distribution mapping report: Mesa Verde National Park. Natural Resource Report NPS/SCPN/NRR—2009/112. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 100020, May 2009 ii Vegetation Classifi cation and Distribution Mapping Report: Mesa Verde National Park Contents Figures ...........................................................................................................................................v Tables ...........................................................................................................................................vii Acronyms and Abbreviations ......................................................................................................ix Executive Summary ......................................................................................................................xi Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................1 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................................1 1.2 Scope and Products ......................................................................................................................1 1.3 The USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program ............................................................................2 1.4 The National Vegetation Classifi cation Standard .......................................................................2 1.5 Park Environment .........................................................................................................................5 1.5.1 Park establishment ........................................................................................................................ 5 1.5.2 Pre-park history ............................................................................................................................. 5 1.5.3 Climate ........................................................................................................................................... 5 1.5.4 Geology, hydrology, and topography .......................................................................................... 8 1.5.5 Wildlife .......................................................................................................................................... 8 1.5.6 Vegetation ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: Identifi cation and Classifi cation of Plant Communities .........................................11 2.1 Methods ......................................................................................................................................11 2.1.1 Relevé data .................................................................................................................................. 11 2.1.2 Photointerpreter observations ................................................................................................... 15 2.1.3 NVC nomenclature ...................................................................................................................... 16 2.2 Results .........................................................................................................................................16 2.2.1 Field documentation for plant communities ............................................................................ 16 2.2.2 Plant community characteristics................................................................................................. 17 2.3 Discussion ....................................................................................................................................17 Chapter 3: Base Map Class Development ..................................................................................23 3.1 Methods ......................................................................................................................................23 3.1.1 Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.2 Base data and imagery ............................................................................................................... 23 3.1.3 Modeling polygons ..................................................................................................................... 25 3.1.4 Base map class labels .................................................................................................................. 26 3.2 Results ........................................................................................................................................27 3.3 Discussion ....................................................................................................................................27 Chapter 4: Accuracy Assessment and Additional Map Classes .................................................33 4.1 Methods ..................................................................................................................................33 4.1.1 Field sampling design ............................................................................................................. 33 4.1.2 Field data collection .............................................................................................................. 34 4.1.3 Field data processing and accuracy assessment statistics ......................................................... 35 4.1.4 Group and management map classes ....................................................................................... 36 4.2 Results .........................................................................................................................................36 4.2.1 Accuracy assessment samples ....................................................................................................
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