Vegetation mapping and classification of Arkansas Post National Memorial, Arkansas: Project report

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

Arkansas Post National Memorial (ARPO) is situated in southwestern Arkansas, near the confluence of the Arkansas and the White Rivers. The site was the location of a trading post established in 1686 Henri de Tontit near the Quapaw village of Osotouy. A vegetation classification and mapping project was initiated in 2012 and completed in 2014. Protocols and products were produced following National Park Service Vegetation Inventory Program guidelines. Classification was based on 38 field plots and 75 georeferenced observation points. Mapping was based on air photo interpretation and heads-up digitizing of polygons. Accuracy assessment points obtained during 2014 verified that the map is 100% accurate. Eleven vegetation types were classified and mapped. Most of the property is recovering from past use for rowcrops or has been otherwise disturbed. Therefore, only six of the eleven types mapped were recognizable as representative of communities described in the National Vegetation Classification. Of those, three were ruderal types, two were wetlands, and one was a rooted aquatic community. The ruderal bottomland woodland made up 60.7% of ARPO, exclusive of water and cultural areas. This type was in various stages of succession, and the majority was on moist river terrace soils. Over time, some differentiation in forest types related to differences in drainage is likely to develop within this broadly-defined community type. Two mixed herbaceous / shrubland types made up an additional 19.6% of ARPO. These areas were apparently successional old fields, and will likely become wooded over time in the absence of active management. A more natural-appearing Bald Cypress Woodland community formed a narrow gallery near perennial water, and accounted for just less than 2% of ARPO. Overall, the terrestrial communities at ARPO seem likely to recover from past disturbance through either active or passive management. However, without active management, it seems likely that almost the entire area will become wooded, except for areas of open water and rooted aquatics.

Vegetation mapping and classification of Arkansas Post National Memorial, Arkansas: Project report

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