Vegetation Classification and Distribution Mapping Report: Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site
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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Vegetation Classification and Distribution Mapping Report Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SCPN/NRTR—2010/301 ON THE COVER Top: Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site as seen from Hubbell Hill; photo by Courtney White, www.awestthatworks.com. Bottom left: Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site; photo by Stephen Monroe. Bottom right: Hubbell Wash, photo by Stephen Monroe. Vegetation Classification and Distribution Mapping Report Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SCPN/NRTR—2010/301 Authors David Salas Corey Bolen Bureau of Reclamation Remote Sensing and GIS Group Mail Code 86-68211 Denver Federal Center Building 67 Denver, Colorado 80225 Project Manager Anne Cully National Park Service, Southern Colorado Plateau Network P.O. Box 5765 Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 Editing and Design Jean Palumbo National Park Service, Southern Colorado Plateau Network P.O. Box 5765 Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 March 2010 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, conservation and environmental constituen cies, 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. 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. This report received informal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not di rectly involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Inte rior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the National Park Service. Funding for this report was provided by the National Park Service, Interagency Agreement 1242030485, modifications 3 and 5. This report is available from Southern Colorado Plateau Network website (http://science.nature.nps.gov/ im/units/scpn/) and the Natural Resource Publications Management Web site (http://www.nature.nps.gov/ publications/NRPM) on the Internet. Please cite this publication as: Salas, D., and C. Bolen. 2010. Vegetation classification and distribution mapping report: Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site. Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SCPN/NRTR—2010/301. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 433/101585, March 2010 iiii Contents � Figures .........................................................................................................................................iv � Tables ...........................................................................................................................................v � Abbreviations and Acronyms .....................................................................................................vi � Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................vii � Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................ix � 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................1 � 1.1. Background .................................................................................................................................1 � 1.2. Scope of Work ..............................................................................................................................2 � 1.3. The National Vegetation Classification (NVC) and Standard (NVCS) .......................................2 � 1.4. The Natural Heritage Program Methodology and Element Ranking ......................................4 � 1.5. Project Area .................................................................................................................................7 � 2. Methods ..................................................................................................................................17 � 2.1. Planning and Scoping ................................................................................................................17 � 2.2. Responsibilities and Deliverables ..............................................................................................17 � 2.3. Preliminary Data Collection and Review of Existing Information ..........................................17 � 2.4. Aerial Photography ...................................................................................................................17 � 2.5. Photointerpretation ..................................................................................................................17 � 2.6. Preliminary Vegetation Types ...................................................................................................18 � 2.7. Field Survey ................................................................................................................................18 � 2.8. Map Units and Polygon Attribution .........................................................................................18 � 2.9. Digital Transfer ..........................................................................................................................20 � 2.10. Plot Data Management and Classification Analysis ..............................................................20 � 2.11. Map Verification .....................................................................................................................20 � 3. Results .....................................................................................................................................20 � 3.1. Field Data Collection .................................................................................................................20 � 3.2. Vegetation Classification ........................................................................................................... 21 � 3.3. Vegetation Alliances and Associations .....................................................................................23 � 3.4. Local Anderson’s Land Use Code Descriptions .........................................................................55 � 3.5. Photographic Database ..............................................................................................................56 � 3.6. Photo-interpretation and Map Units .......................................................................................56 � 3.7. Vegetation Map .........................................................................................................................56 � 3.8. Map Verification ........................................................................................................................58 � 4. Discussion ...............................................................................................................................58 � 4.1. NVC Classification ......................................................................................................................58 � 4.2. Global Rarity ..............................................................................................................................59 � 4,3. Non-Native Species ....................................................................................................................59 � 4.4. Photo-interpretation and Map Units .......................................................................................60 � 5. Literature Cited ......................................................................................................................62 � Appendix A Aerial Photography of Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site ............................................. A1 Appendix B Lookup Table .....................................................................................................................................B1 Appendix C Plant Species List: Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site ......................................................C1 iii Vegetation Classification and Distribution Mapping Report: Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site Figures Figure 1. Location map for Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site (Scale 1:2,000,000) ....................................