Vegetation mapping and classification of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Ohio

Diamond, David; Elliott, Lee; Debacker, Michael; James, Kevin; Pursell, Dyanna; Struckhoff, Alicia

Hopewell Culture National Historic Park (HOCU) conserves remnants of mounds and other earthworks created by the Hopewell people within five separate units. These parcels lie at the boundary between the Western Allegheny Plateau to the south and the Eastern Cornbelt Plains (originally grassland and savanna) to the north. Most units lie on river terraces or low hills adjacent to stream floodplains. A vegetation classification and mapping project was initiated in 2011 and completed in 2013. Protocols and products were produced following National Park Service Vegetation Inventory Program guidelines. Classification was based on 33 field plots and 54 georeferenced observation points. Mapping was based on air photo interpretation and heads-up digitizing of polygons. Accuracy assessment points obtained during 2013 verified that the map is 98.5% accurate. Seven vegetation types were classified and mapped at HOCU, including four types specific to the park and three types that fit National Vegetation Classification association descriptions, two at the association level and one at the group level. Among these, the Appalachian Sugar Maple-Chinkapin Oak/Eastern Redbud Limestone Forest was in the best condition, and it occupied 34.1 acres (13.8 hectares) on the northeastern side of the Hopewell Mound Group unit. This area is unusual in that it lies on low hills rather than on relatively flat river floodplains and terraces. A low, rolling area to the west of this forest supported Ruderal Woodland and Ruderal Low Woodland/Shrubland vegetation. Three units supported narrow, linear patches of Silver Maple-Green Ash-Sycamore Floodplain Forest, and these patches comprised 38.9 acres (15.7 hectares). A ruderal type, Orchardgrass-Timothy-Fescue species-Goldenrod species Herbaceous Vegetation, occupied former croplands across most units of the park. This type accounted for 70.3% of the non-developed park area (587.8 acres, 237.9 hectares), and dominated the view shed across most park units. ix

Vegetation mapping and classification of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Ohio

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