Yosemite vegetation map

Aerial Information Systems

This is the vegetation of Yosemite National Park and beyond the boundary. The data were produced from 1997 color infrared analog photographs flown by Photo Science through a nationwide contract. ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) was the contrator that coordinated the work. Hundreds of vegetation plots were surveyed within the park and outside the park boundaries by the National Park Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and The Nature Conservancy. The photointerpretation of the 1997 photos was performed by Aerial Information Systems (Redlands, CA). Photointerpretation was conducted manually using analog photos in stereo pairs and then the polygon boundaries were georeferenced to DOQQS to georectify the map. A plant community classification was developed by NatureServe (in cooperation with the California Department of Fish and Game and California Native Plant Society) by running cluster analysis on the plot data from 604 sites surveyed in 1998 and 1999, 362 sites surveyed in 1989 to 1993, and 774 sites surveyed in 1935 to 1937. A list of mappable types was developed and crosswalked to the floristic classification based on the cluster analysis ('MappingClasstoVegClassTable.xls'). Mapping classification type names are found in 'TYPENAME.dbf;' mapping classification definitions by type are located in Final Comprehensive Mapping Classification Descriptions.doc. The mapping classes were coded and assigned to individual polygons in the vegetation map along with codes for canopy closure, fire severity where applicable, and land use. The floristic classification, key to types and type descriptions are located in the document 'Yosemite Classification Report.doc.' Accuracy assessment field data were collected by NatureServe and analyzed by the NPS and the USGS. Photointerpretation and georectification were completed in 2003; accuracy assessment was completed in 2006. The file geodatabase includes: 1) A feature class of the boundary of the vegetation data ("Veg1997_boundary"). 2) A feature class of the 1997 vegetation data ("Veg1997_polygon") 3) A feature class of the 1997 vegetation data clipped to an area around Devils Postpile National Monument ("Veg1997_DEPO"). 4) A lookup table of general vegetation community type. Can be joined or related to the "Veg1997_polygon" feature class. 5) A lookup table of canopy density. Can be joined or related to the "Veg1997_polygon" feature class. 6) A lookup talbe of recent fire history. Can be joined or related to the "Veg1997_polygon" feature class. 7) A lookup table for land use. Can be joined or related to the "Veg1997_polygon" feature class. 8) A lookup table for Wildife Habitat Relationships (WHR). Can be joined or related to the "Veg1997_polygon" feature class. The lookup tables listed above within the "1997Veg" geodatabase can be joined to the attribute table of the "Veg1997_polygon" feature class and provide deatils on attribute codes, and include: "Community" that has the broad aggregated vegetation community type for each polygon and is joined to the attribute table using the PIFINAL field; "Density" which includes the vegetation cover classes for each polygon and is joined to the attribute table using the DENSITY field; "Fire" that includes the fire severity classes for the most recent (prior to 1997) fire that occured within the polygon and is joined to the attribute table using the FIRE field; "Land_Use" which includes the general type of land use for each polygon and is joined to the attribute table using the LANDUSE field; and "WHR_Type" which inlcudes the California Wildlife Habitat Relationship type (2008) for each polygon and is joined to the attribute table using the PIFINAL field.

Yosemite vegetation map

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