National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Program Center Vegetation Classification Guidelines National Park Service Vegetation Inventory, Version 2.0 Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/NRR—2011/374 ON THE COVER Upper Left: North Atlantic Low Salt Marsh, Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts Upper Right: California Fan Palm Woodland, Joshua Tree National Park, California Lower Left: Subalpine Fir Woodland, Glacier National Park, Montana Lower Right: West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna, Big Thicket National Preserve, Texas. National Park Service photographs by Chris Lea. Vegetation Classification Guidelines National Park Service Vegetation Inventory, Version 2.0 Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/NRR—2011/374 Chris Lea National Park Service Vegetation Inventory P.O. Box 25287 (Academy Place) Denver, CO 80225 April 2011 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 constituencies, and the public. Natural Resource Reports are the designated medium for disseminating high priority, current natural resource information with managerial application. The targets a general, diverse audience, and may contain NPS policy considerations or address sensitive issues of management applicability. 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This report is available from the National Park Service Vegetation Inventory website (http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/inventory/veg/index.cfm) and from the Natural Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). Please cite this publication as: Lea, C. 2011. Vegetation classification guidelines: National Park Service Vegetation Inventory, version 2.0. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/NRR—2011/374. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado. NPS 909/107410, April 2011 ii Contents Page Figures........................................................................................................................................... vii Tables............................................................................................................................................. ix Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................ xiii 1.0 Introduction............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Purposes of Vegetation Classification ............................................................................... 1 1.2 Legal and Policy Basis for Vegetation Classification in the National Park Service ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 The Importance of a Field-based Vegetation Classification .............................................. 2 1.4 Changes from Previous Version of this Report ................................................................. 3 1.5 Key Requirements of the Park-based Classification ......................................................... 5 2.0 Vegetation Classification: Review of Approaches and Methods ............................................. 9 2.1 Skills Required and Division of Labor .............................................................................. 9 2.2 Classification Approaches ................................................................................................. 9 2.2.1 Vegetation Classification Criteria ........................................................................... 10 2.2.2 Noda and Diagnostics.............................................................................................. 12 2.3 Information Sources for Local Vegetation Type Descriptions ........................................ 15 2.3.1 Classification Plots / Local Analysis ....................................................................... 16 2.3.2 Observation Plots..................................................................................................... 16 2.3.3 Remotely Sensed Image Data................................................................................... 17 2.3.4 Regional Classification Plots / Regional Analysis................................................... 19 2.4 Information Sources for Global (National Vegetation Classification) Description............................................................................................................................. 19 2.4.1 Classification Plots / USNVC Types Database........................................................ 19 iii Contents (continued) Page 2.5 Review of Quantitative Methods for Vegetation Classification ...................................... 20 2.5.1 Cluster Analysis ....................................................................................................... 20 2.5.2 TWINSPAN .............................................................................................................. 20 2.5.3 Tabular Sorting........................................................................................................ 21 2.5.4 Indicator Species Analysis ....................................................................................... 22 2.5.5 Ordination................................................................................................................ 22 3.0 Vegetation Classification: Relationship to Map Classes ........................................................ 23 3.1 Vegetation and Unvegetated Land Cover That Are Represented by Single (Homogeneous) Map Classes ................................................................................................ 23 3.1.1 Natural and Seminatural Vegetation ....................................................................... 23 3.1.3 Cultural Vegetation.................................................................................................. 24 3.1.4 Unvegetated Land (and Water) Cover and Some Problematic Vegetation Classes .............................................................................................................................. 24 3.2 Heterogeneous Map Classes (Complexes) ...................................................................... 25 3.2.1 Thematic Complexes ................................................................................................ 25 3.2.2 Mosaiced Complexes ............................................................................................... 26 3.4 Cross Walk of Local Vegetation Classes to National Vegetation Classification ......................................................................................................................... 26 3.5 Cross Walk of Local Vegetation Classes to Local Map Classes ..................................... 26 3.6 Cross Walk to Other Classifications................................................................................ 27 3.7 Representation within Spatial Database .......................................................................... 27 4.0 Vegetation Descriptions.......................................................................................................... 29 4.1 Minimum Requirements .................................................................................................. 29 4.1.1 Minimum Set of Fields for Vegetation Type Descriptions ....................................... 29 iv Contents (continued) Page 4.1.2 Optional Set of Fields for Vegetation Type Descriptions ........................................ 30 4.2 Sources for Description ................................................................................................... 30 4.2.1 Classification Plots .................................................................................................. 30 4.2.2 Observation Plots..................................................................................................... 31 4.2.3 USNVC Types Database .......................................................................................... 31 4.2.4 Map Data ................................................................................................................. 31 4.2.5 Qualitative Sources.................................................................................................