Vegetation mapping and classification of Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas: Project report

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

Hot Springs National Park (HOSP) is situated in central Arkansas, near the city of Hot Springs. In 1832, President Andrew Jackson created the first national park here when he signed legislation declaring “…four sections of land including said (hot) springs, reserved for the future disposal of the United States (which) shall not be entered, located, or appropriated, for any other purpose whatsoever.” A vegetation classification and mapping project was initiated in 2012 and completed in 2015. Protocols and products were produced following National Park Service Vegetation Inventory Program guidelines. Classification was based on 74 field plots and 96 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 was 79.1% accurate. Seven vegetation types were classified and mapped. Most of the area of the park was covered by dry or dry-mesic oak and pine-oak woodland and forest types. These communities together accounted for 75.8% of the area of the natural vegetation of the park. Pine types made up 56.0% of the area and oak types made up 19.7%. The single largest type was the Shortleaf Pine – Oak Dry-Mesic Woodland, which accounted for 35.7% of the area of the park. Dry woodland and forest occurred primarily on well-drained ridges and on south facing slopes, whereas dry-mesic forest occurred on north facing slopes. Intermittent upland drainages supported the Ouachita- Ozark Small Stream Hardwood Forest type, and accounted for 22.5% of the park. Ouachita Novaculite Glades accounted for only 8.3 acres (3.3 hectares) within the park, but these were unique communities in terms of vegetation structure and species composition. The communities within the park were strongly associated with abiotic variables, and since the topography features long ridges with steep slopes and high-gradient drainages, the communities were often situated in linear patterns that conformed to the long, northeast- to southwest-trending ridges and valleys.

Vegetation mapping and classification of Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas: Project report

Series