Classification of Natural Areas Conservancy's Ecological
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Classification of Natural Areas Conservancy’s Ecological Assessment Plots New York Natural Heritage Program Established in 1985, the New York Natural Heritage NY Natural Heritage also houses iMapInvasives, an Program (NYNHP) is a program of the State University of online tool for invasive species reporting and data New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry management. (SUNY ESF). Our mission is to facilitate conservation of NY Natural Heritage has developed two notable rare animals, rare plants, and significant ecosystems. We online resources: Conservation Guides include the accomplish this mission by combining thorough field biology, identification, habitat, and management of many inventories, scientific analyses, expert interpretation, and the of New York’s rare species and natural community most comprehensive database on New York's distinctive types; and NY Nature Explorer lists species and biodiversity to deliver the highest quality information for communities in a specified area of interest. natural resource planning, protection, and management. The program is an active participant in the The Program is funded by grants and contracts from NatureServe Network – an international network of government agencies whose missions involve natural biodiversity data centers overseen by a Washington D.C. resource management, private organizations involved in based non-profit organization. There are currently land protection and stewardship, and both government and Natural Heritage Programs or Conservation Data private organizations interested in advancing the Centers in all 50 states and several interstate regions. conservation of biodiversity. There are also 10 programs in Canada, and many NY Natural Heritage is housed within NYS DEC’s participating organizations across 12 Latin and South Division of Fish, Wildlife & Marine Resources. The American Countries. Our collaboration with program is staffed by more than 25 scientists and NatureServe and other states helps us put our specialists with expertise in ecology, zoology, botany, information into a broader context. With NatureServe, information management, and geographic information we track the rarity of species and natural communities at systems. global and state scales, allowing us to distinguish NY Natural Heritage maintains New York’s most conservation priorities for species with just a few comprehensive database on the status and location of populations in the world to other species with a few rare species and natural communities. We presently populations in New York but many populations monitor 181 natural community types, 803 rare plant elsewhere. We can also pool our data to look across state species, and 474 rare animal species across New York, and international lines. For example, New York data on keeping track of more than 13,500 locations where these rare species and natural communities along Lake species and communities have been recorded. The Ontario have been combined with similar data from database also includes detailed information on the Canada to facilitate analyses of potential consequences relative rareness of each species and community, the of lake-level changes. New York information has also quality of their occurrences, and descriptions of sites. been combined with data from neighboring states to The information is used by public agencies, the help us understand the significance of our best environmental conservation community, developers, and biodiversity sites relative to similar systems in others to aid in land-use decisions. Our data are essential southeastern Canada, New England, the Mid-Atlantic for prioritizing those species and communities in need states, and other Great Lakes states. of protection and for guiding land-use and land- management decisions where these species and Learn more at www.nynhp.org. communities exist. In addition to tracking recorded locations, NY Natural Heritage has developed models of the areas around these locations important for conserving biodiversity, and models of the distribution of suitable habitat for rare species across New York State. ii Classification of Natural Areas Conservancy’s Ecological Assessment Plots New York Natural Heritage Program Gregory J. Edinger Timothy G. Howard Matthew D. Schlesinger June 30, 2016 Please cite this report as follows: Edinger, Gregory J., Timothy G. Howard, and Matthew D. Schlesinger. 2016. Classification of Natural Areas Conservancy’s Ecological Assessment plots. New York Natural Heritage Program, Albany, NY. Cover photos: Top left: Plot X092_0184, Van Cortlandt Park, Oak-tulip tree forest (southern), CEGL006075. Top right: Plot R031_0037, Wolfe’s Pond Park, Red maple-sweetgum swamp, CEGL006110. Center: Kissena Park in Queens with points representing NAC’s Ecological Assessment plots. Bottom left: Plot Q001_0058, Alley Pond Park, Coastal oak-beech forest, CEGL006377. Bottom right: Plot X092_0284, Van Cortlandt Park, Successional black cherry forest, CEGL009012. iii Table of Contents Table of Figures .............................................................................................................................. v Table of Tables ............................................................................................................................... v Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Vegetation and Community Classification ................................................................................. 1 U.S. National Vegetation Classification ................................................................................. 2 Ecological Communities of New York State .......................................................................... 2 Methods and Results ....................................................................................................................... 3 Acquisition of Plot Data ............................................................................................................. 3 Construction of NAC Plots Classification Database .................................................................. 3 Rapid Classification of NAC Plots to USNVC Association ....................................................... 7 Plot classification summaries .................................................................................................... 11 Upland Forests ...................................................................................................................... 11 Wetlands ............................................................................................................................... 11 Non-native Associations ....................................................................................................... 12 Multivariate Analysis ................................................................................................................ 12 Development of Plot Classification Key .................................................................................. 14 Creation of Dichotomous Key .................................................................................................. 15 Additional Associations ............................................................................................................ 16 Oak-tulip Tree Forest ............................................................................................................ 17 Successional Maritime Forest ............................................................................................... 17 Post Oak Forest ..................................................................................................................... 17 Serpentine Forest .................................................................................................................. 18 Comparison to the Ecological Covertype Map ......................................................................... 18 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Classification Challenges .......................................................................................................... 23 Plots on Ecotones .................................................................................................................. 23 Plots in Non-Target System or Type .................................................................................... 23 Plots with Incomplete or Questionable Species Identification ............................................. 23 Plots with Abundant Invasive Species .................................................................................. 23 Land-use History and Plot Classification ............................................................................. 24 The ECM and Plot-based Classification ................................................................................... 24 Potential Next Steps .................................................................................................................. 24 References ..................................................................................................................................... 25 Appendix A. Summary of Data Provided by NAC....................................................................