Vegetation Classification and Mapping at Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site
Largay E and Sneddon LA. 2008. Vegetation Classification and Mapping at Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site. Natural Resource Technical Report. Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2008/123. National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Northeast Region Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Final report for the Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site Vegetation Inventory. Executive Summary: Vegetation classification and mapping was completed for Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site, creating a current digital geospatial vegetation database for the park. Six vegetation associations occurred within the park, and these were identified and described in detail. The associations were Northeastern Modified Successional Forest, Reed Canarygrass Eastern Marsh, Reed-grass Tidal Marsh, Cattail Brackish Tidal Marsh, Skunk-cabbage - Orange Jewelweed Seep, and Central Atlantic Freshwater Subtidal River Bed.The most abundant vegetation community at Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site was Reed-grass Tidal Marsh, which covered 18% of the entire site. This invasive herbaceous marsh community occurred adjacent to the eastern bank of the Saugus River on saturated muck soils. The strain of common reed (Phragmites australis) presumed to occur in the park is not native to North America and is an indicator of disturbance. Cattail Brackish Tidal Marsh was another marsh community at this site, and was dominated by the native narrowleaf cattail (Typha angustifolia). This community occurred on both sides of the Saugus River. The one forest community, Northeastern Modified Successional Forest, covered 15% of the site, and was also dominated by a nonnative invasive, Norway maple (Acer platanoides).A map depicting the locations of vegetation communities was created, following the USGS/NPS Vegetation Mapping Program protocols (TNC and ESRI 1994 a,b,c). Vegetation types are associations classified using the U.S. National Vegetation Classification to provide a regional and global context for the park’s vegetation. A dichotomous field key was developed for associations to assist with field recognition and classification. This project documents the associations of Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site based on 2005 aerial photography, 2004 field sampling, and 2007 field verification.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Largay, Ery; Sneddon, Lesley
- Date of Issue
- 2008-09
- Units
- SAIR , 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