The Buck Island vegetation map was made in UTM, NAD 83, zone 20N coordinates with a minimum mapping unit of 400m². Photointerpretation was based on aerial imagery of a single U.S. Army Corps of Engineers natural color GeoTIFF orthophoto acquired as part of a larger collection in 2006-2007. SFCN field tests indicate that the horizontal accuracy (RMSE) of the aerial image to be approximately 2.2m.

The final vegetation map has a total of 26 mapping classes and 51 polygons. A vegetation key and classification were generated as part of the project which included four proposed new Alliances, and 11 new Associations. The vegetation classification system was created based on vegetation physiognomic class, Caribbean Formations from Areces-Mallea et al. (1999), U.S. Virgin Islands Sub-formations from Gibney et al. (2000), and Alliances/Associations defined by the SFCN based on data from vegetation plots and field notes.

Also included are: a photo-interpretation key, a list of vegetation species observed in the field during this project, a vegetation species photo guide for Buck Island Reef National Monument, field data sheets, and reference literature. Ninety-two percent of the polygons either had vegetation data collection or were directly visited and confirmed; consequently SFCN concluded the map meets the NPS-VMP requirement of 80% accuracy with 90% confidence. The final product meets the FGDC metadata standard.

Please cite this publication as:

Moser, J. G., K. R. T. Whelan, R. B. Shamblin, A. J. Atkinson, J. M. Patterson. 2010.
Buck Island Reef National Monument, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vegetation Mapping Project, 2009. Natural Resource Technical Report. NPS/SFCN/NRTR�2010/293.
National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.