Inventories
Vegetation Mapping

Background
The USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program  is a cooperative effort by the U.S. Geological Survey/Biological Resources Discipline (USGS/BRD) and the National Park Service (NPS) to classify, describe, and map vegetation communities in more than 270 national park units across the United States. The primary objective of the vegetation mapping program is to produce high-quality, standardized maps of the vegetation and other land cover occurring within national parks. The vegetation maps are produced at a 1:12,000 scale with a minimum mapping unit of 1/2 hectare and a thematic accuracy of 80%.

The NCPN is producing vegetation maps for all 16 parks within the network. Each map represents hundreds to thousands of hours of effort by dozens of contributors: ecologists, field technicians, GIS technicians, data managers, writers, editors, and park staff. The result is a highly integrated product that is not just a map and a report, but an entire library of vegetation data and descriptive information. In addition to the original plot data, users can read detailed descriptions of every plant association, ecological system, and map class in a park, as well as look at photographs of what the vegetation looks like on the ground. Because the map exists in a digital environment, the available information can be organized and displayed in dozens of different ways, new information can be added, and data from other projects can be layered over the map.

Map Development
The major milestones in vegetation map development include:

1. Planning -- Determine project boundary, enlist cooperators, review existing information, define special feature to inventory and map
2. Aerial photography -- Obtain new aerial imagery for both stereo and orthophotographs of the project area
3. Initial Plot Collection -- Collect detailed vegetation information from plots distributed to include every plant community type within the park
4. Vegetation Classification -- Analyze and organize the plot data into units of the National Vegetation Classification (associations and alliances)
5. Photo Interpretation -- Develop map class concepts and apply them in drawing polygons around distinct signatures on the aerial photographs
6. Spatial Database Development -- Develop and apply polygon attributes (height, density, land use) and modifiers (disturbance, fire history)
7. Field Keys -- Write and illustrate keys to the plant associations and a guide to the map classes
8. Accuracy Assessment -- Collect field data and use field key to test the accuracy of the map
9. Final Report and Data -- Write documentation report, plant association descriptions, and metadata; build geodatabase to include map polygons, attribute tables, and plots database.

Project Status
The current status of each project appears in the table below.

Park	Planning & Aerial Photography	Initial Plot Collection	Vegetation Classification	Photo Interpretation	Accuracy Assessment	Draft Data Available	Completed Report & Spatial Data
Arches National Park	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	NA	All Data Poster (20MB)
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	Available upon request
Bryce Canyon National Park	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	Available upon request
Canyonlands National Park	Done	Done	Done	Done	Analysis winter 2009	winter 2009
Capitol Reef National Park	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	NA	All Data Poster (20MB)
Cedar Breaks National Monument	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	Available upon request
Colorado National Monument	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	NA	All Data Poster (34MB)
Curecanti National Recreation Area	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	Available upon request
Dinosaur National Monument	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	NA	All Data Poster (42MB)
Fossil Butte National Monument	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	Available upon request
Golden Spike National Historic Site	Done	Done	Done	Done	NA	Available upon request
Hovenweep National Monument	Done	Done	Done	Done	NA	NA	All Data Poster (46MB)
Natural Bridges National Monument	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	NA	All Data Poster (49MB)
Pipe Spring National Monument	Done	Done	Done	Done	NA	NA	All Data Poster (1.7MB)
Timpanogos Cave National Monument	Done	Done	Done	Done	NA	NA	All Data Poster (9MB)
Zion National Park	Done	Done	Done	Done	Done	NA	All Data Poster (5MB)

Contact
Amy Tendick, Amy_Tendick@nps.gov

Inventories I Projects & Products I Vegetation Mapping