USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Fire Island National Seashore Final Report of the NPS Vegetation Mapping Project at Fire Island National Seashore Scott D. Klopfer Conservation Management Institute Adele Olivero NY Natural Heritage Program Lesley Sneddon NatureServe Julie Lundgren The Nature Conservancy April 2002 CMI-GRS –02-03 Conservation Management Institute GIS & Remote Sensing Division College of Natural Resources Virginia Tech 203 West Roanoke Street Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 (540) 231-7348 http://fwie.fw.vt.edu 1 USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Fire Island National Seashore Table of Contents Tables of Contents.......................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Tables.................................................................................................................................................. 4 List of Figures ................................................................................................................................................ 5 List of Appendices.......................................................................................................................................... 6 List of Contacts .............................................................................................................................................. 7 Conservation Management Institute .......................................................................................................... 7 NatureServe ............................................................................................................................................... 7 New York Natural Heritage Program ........................................................................................................ 7 National Park Service ................................................................................................................................ 7 List of Contributors ........................................................................................................................................ 9 Conservation Management Institute .......................................................................................................... 9 NatureServe ............................................................................................................................................... 9 New York Natural Heritage Program ........................................................................................................ 9 Acknowledgement........................................................................................................................................ 10 0.0 Executive Summary................................................................................................................................ 12 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 15 1.1 General Background .......................................................................................................................... 15 1.2 Specific Park Information.................................................................................................................. 15 2.0 Project Area............................................................................................................................................ 15 2.1 Location and Regional Settling.......................................................................................................... 15 2.1.1 Cultural History of Fire Island..................................................................................................... 15 2.1.2 History of the Fire Island National Seashore............................................................................... 16 2.2 Park Attributes Related to the Vegetation Mapping Project .............................................................. 17 3.0 Material and Methods............................................................................................................................. 19 3.1 Planning and Scoping Meeting .......................................................................................................... 20 3.2 Preliminary Data Collection and Review of Existing Information .................................................... 20 3.3 Aerial Photography Acquisition......................................................................................................... 20 3.4 Development of Special Mapping and Data Criteria ......................................................................... 21 3.5 Field Data Collection and Classifiction ............................................................................................. 22 3.5.1 Development of Preliminary Classification................................................................................. 22 3.5.2 Initial Field Reconnaissance ........................................................................................................ 22 3.5.3 Development of Field Collection Strategy................................................................................... 23 3.5.4 Field Data Collection................................................................................................................... 25 3.6 Vegetation Map Preparation .............................................................................................................. 25 3.6.1 Preliminary Photointerpretation................................................................................................... 26 3.6.2 Field Verification......................................................................................................................... 26 3.6.3 Final Photointerpretation ............................................................................................................. 27 3.6.4 Data Conversion .......................................................................................................................... 27 3.7 Accuracy Assessment ........................................................................................................................ 27 3.7.1 Data Collection ............................................................................................................................ 27 3.7.2 Analysis ....................................................................................................................................... 30 4.0 Results .................................................................................................................................................... 31 4.1 Vegetation Classification and Characterization ................................................................................. 31 4.2 Vegetation Map Production ............................................................................................................... 31 4.2.1 Map Units .................................................................................................................................... 31 4.2.2 Spatial Accuracy.......................................................................................................................... 35 4.2.3 Aerial Photography Interpretation ............................................................................................... 36 4.3 Accuracy Assessment ........................................................................................................................ 42 5.0 Discussion .............................................................................................................................................. 46 5.1 Vegetation Classification and Characterization ................................................................................. 46 5.2 Vegetation Map Production ............................................................................................................... 47 5.3 Recommendation for Future Projects ................................................................................................ 48 6.0 Bibliography........................................................................................................................................... 50 2 USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Fire Island National Seashore 7.0 Appendices ............................................................................................................................................. 51 7.1 Index of USGS 7.5-minute Topographic Quad Maps for Fire Island National Seashore .................. 51 7.2 Index to Aerial Photos Used for Vegetation Mapping Fire Island National Seashore....................... 52 7.3 Database Structure Used for Collectiing Field Vegetation Mapping Information on GPS Units ...... 54 7.4 Plot Survey Form............................................................................................................................... 56 7.5 Database Structure Used for Accuracy Assessment on GPS Units.................................................... 58 7.6 Field Key to the NVCS Vegetation Associations .............................................................................. 59 7.7 Photointerpretation Key..................................................................................................................... 63 7.8 Metadata ...........................................................................................................................................