Field data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Joshua Tree National Park

This reference is an assemblage of field data collected as part the baseline vegetation inventory for the park unit. Typical files here are vegetation plot data, accuracy assessment data, field photos, PDF showing locations of vegetation plots and accuracy assessment data, and other data for this type. Initial mapping, photo-interpretation, and field work was conducted between 1996 and 2005. Ideally, the mapping, classification, ground truthing, and accuracy assessment can all be completed within a concise time frame by a core set of individuals and, perhaps more importantly, with continuous funding to support the completion of the project. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the JOTR effort, which suffered from a lack of funding and a high turnover rate of Park staff. The lack of funding contributed to meager field efforts for the collection of vegetation plot data for initial analysis, as well as in ground-truthing the map and classification. In an effort to make-up for this lack of data, the Accuracy Assessment protocol was modified in 2006 to include more vegetation data for each plot. The additional vegetation data were utilized during the final stages of this project to target problematic vegetation types and refine the classification. Preferably, these final stages of fieldwork would have been done in conjunction with the final stages of producing the map and classification, such that feedback from the Park could have been incorporated into the final products submitted in 2005. However, it wasn’t until 2006 that funding was secured for the Accuracy Assessment phase of the project, long after all funding had ended to support the vegetation ecologists at CDFG and photo-interpreters at AIS.