USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Voyageurs National Park USGS-NPS VEGETATION MAPPING PROGRAM Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota Kevin Hop U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center Don Faber-Langendoen Association for Biodiversity Information Michael Lew-Smith Northeast Ecological Resources Norman Aaseng Minnesota County Biological Survey Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Sara Lubinski U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center This Report Produced by: U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center 2630 Fanta Reed Road La Crosse, Wisconsin 54602-0818 Program Managed by: U.S. Geological Survey Center for Biological Informatics Denver Federal Center, Building 810 Room 8000, MS 302 Denver, Colorado 80225-0046 In cooperation with: USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Voyageurs National Park TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ...............................................................................................................................2 LIST OF TABLES .........................................................................................................................................5 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................................6 LIST OF CONTACTS ...................................................................................................................................7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................................................10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................11 1. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................13 1.1 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................... 13 1.2 VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK ................................................................................. 13 2. METHODS ..............................................................................................................................................15 2.1 PLANNING ............................................................................................................. 15 2.2 AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH ACQUISITION......................................................................... 16 2.3 VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION AND PRELIMINARY CLASSIFICATION LISTT ...................... 19 2.4 RECONNAISSANCE AND VERIFICATION FOR MAPPING AND CLASSIFICATION................. 20 2.5 CREATION OF MAP UNITS ....................................................................................... 21 2.6 VEGETATION SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS FOR CLASSIFICATION DEVELOPMENT.............. 21 2.7 PHOTO INTERPRETATION ........................................................................................ 24 2.8 TRANSFER AND AUTOMATION OF PHOTO INTERPRETED DATA.................................... 25 2.9 ACCURACY ASSESSMENTT ........................................................................................ 29 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ...............................................................................................................32 3.1 VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION ................................................................................. 32 3.2 ECOLOGICAL GROUPS ............................................................................................ 35 3.3 GLOBAL RARITY ..................................................................................................... 38 3.4 MAP UNITS............................................................................................................ 39 Association Level Map Units............................................................................................................................41 Map Units Representing Association Phases ...................................................................................................41 Map Units Representing Formations................................................................................................................43 Map Units that are Aggregates (more than one Formation)............................................................................43 3.5 VEGETATION MAP .................................................................................................. 48 3.6 ACCURACY ASSESSMENTT ........................................................................................ 51 3.7 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE PROJECTS .......................................................... 64 4. REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................66 5. DICHOTOMOUS KEY TO THE PLANT COMMUNITIES AT VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK .........69 6. VEGETATION COMMUNITY DESCRIPTIONS OF VOYAGEURS NATIONAL PARK ........................75 6.1 BOGS.................................................................................................................... 75 Picea mariana / Ledum groenlandicum / Carex trisperma / Sphagnum spp. Forest (Black Spruce Bog) .......75 2 USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Voyageurs National Park Picea mariana / Chamaedaphne calyculata / Sphagnum spp. Dwarf-shrubland (Black Spruce / Leatherleaf Semi-treed Bog)................................................................................................................................................78 Chamaedaphne calyculata - Ledum groenlandicum - Kalmia polifolia Bog Dwarf-shrubland (Leatherleaf Bog) ..................................................................................................................................................................80 6.2 NORTHERN SHRUB AND GRAMINOID FENS ............................................................... 82 Alnus incana - Salix spp. - Betula pumila / Chamaedaphne calyculata Shrubland (Bog Birch - Willow Shore Fen) ..................................................................................................................................................................82 Chamaedaphne calyculata - Myrica gale / Carex lasiocarpa Dwarf-shrubland (Leatherleaf - Sweetgale Shore Fen) ..................................................................................................................................................................84 Larix laricina - Betula pumila / Chamaedaphne calyculata Shrubland (Tamarack Scrub Poor Fen).............86 Betula pumila / Chamaedaphne calyculata / Carex lasiocarpa Shrubland (Bog Birch - Leatherleaf Poor Fen) ..........................................................................................................................................................................88 Carex lasiocarpa - (Carex rostrata) - Equisetum fluviatile Herbaceous Vegetation (Wiregrass Sedge Shore Fen) ..................................................................................................................................................................90 Carex lasiocarpa - Carex oligosperma / Sphagnum spp. - Polytrichum spp. Herbaceous Vegetation (Northern Sedge Poor Fen)...............................................................................................................................................92 6.3 WET MEADOWS ...................................................................................................... 94 Calamagrostis canadensis Eastern Herbaceous Vegetation [Provisional] (Canada Bluejoint Eastern Meadow)...........................................................................................................................................................94 Carex (rostrata, utriculata) - Carex lacustris - (Carex vesicaria) Herbaceous Vegetation (Northern Sedge Wet Meadow)....................................................................................................................................................96 6.4 MARSHES.............................................................................................................. 99 Phragmites australis Semipermanently Flooded Ruderal Herbaceous Vegetation (Eastern Reed Marsh)......99 Scirpus acutus - (Scirpus fluviatilis) Freshwater Herbaceous Vegetation (Freshwater Bulrush Marsh) ......101 Typha spp. Midwest Herbaceous Vegetation (Midwest Cattail Deep Marsh)................................................103 Equisetum fluviatile - (Eleocharis smallii) Herbaceous Vegetation (Water Horsetail - Spikerush Marsh) ...105 Zizania (aquatica, palustris) Herbaceous Vegetation [Provisional] (Wild Rice Marsh) ...............................107 Potamogeton spp. - Ceratophyllum spp. Midwest Herbaceous Vegetation (Midwest Pondweed Submerged Aquatic Wetland)............................................................................................................................................109 Nymphaea odorata - Nuphar lutea (ssp. pumila, variegata) Herbaceous Vegetation (Northern Water Lily Aquatic Wetland)............................................................................................................................................112 6.5 NORTHERN CONIFER AND HARDWOOD SWAMPS..................................................... 114 Fraxinus nigra - Mixed Hardwoods-Conifers / Cornus sericea / Carex spp. Forest