Lake Meredith National Recreation Area and Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Vegetation Inventory Project
Fenton K, Bell J, Wegner D. 2007. Lake Meredith National Recreation Area and Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument Vegetation Inventory Project. Bureau of Reclamation. Denver, Colorado
Lake Meredith National Recreation Area (LAMR) encompasses 67 square miles in north central Texas, an area known as the Texas Panhandle within the Canadian River Breaks land resource area. This mapping effort is part of the National Park Services’ National Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Program and will provide core or ‘baseline’ information that park managers need to effectively manage and protect park resources. A multi-year approach was utilized to effectively classify and map the wide range of vegetation at LAMR consisting of several linked phases: (1) vegetation classification using the National Vegetation Classification (NVC), (2) digital vegetation map production, and (3) map accuracy assessment. To classify the vegetation, we sampled 182 representative plots located throughout the 46,000-acre (18,200 ha) park and surrounding environs during the summer of 2004. Analysis of the plot data using ordination and clustering techniques produced 29 vegetation communities, composed of one alliance (Cottonwood Temporarily Flooded Woodland Alliance), 18 existing associations and 10 additional associations that were newly described for this area. To produce the digital map, we used both the 2002 1:12,000-scale color infrared aerial photography and the 2002 1:40,000-scale color infrared ortho-rectified imagery reproduced at 1:12,000-scale, and 2 years of ground-truthing and data collection to interpret the complex patterns of vegetation and landuse at LAMR. In the end, 34 map units were developed and cross-walked or matched to corresponding plant associations and land use classes. All of the interpreted and remotely sensed data were converted to Geographic Information System (GIS) databases using ArcInfo© software. Draft maps created from the vegetation classification were field-tested and revised before independent ecologists conducted an assessment of the map’s accuracy during 2005.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Fenton, Kathy; Bell, J.R.; Wegner, Dave
- Date of Issue
- 2007-04
- Publisher
- Bureau of Reclamation
- Units
- ALFL , LAMR , VMI
- Keywords
- Accuracy Assessment, Aerial Photography, alliances, Associations, community association, Digital Orthophoto, Digital Spatial Database, DOQ, DOQQ, Field Data, flight line, GIS, GPS, habitat mapping, Inventory Projects, Landcover, Landscape, National Park, National Park Service Inventory, National Vegetation Classification Standard, National Vegetation Classification System, NVCS, Orthophoto, Plots, U.S. National Vegetation Classification, USNVC, USNVCS, Vegetation Inventory, Vegetation Inventory Report, Vegetation Map Report, Vegetation Mapping, Vegetation Plots