Field data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

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. Plots were placed to represent the character of an entire stand of vegetation as well as possible. Plots were usually located at least 15 m from the boundary of another vegetation type to reduce the variability associated with the transition from one vegetation type to another. This was not always possible in the case of small or linear vegetation stands. It was sometimes difficult to determine what constituted the boundary of a unique vegetation type because two adjacent stands may be floristically very similar but separated in the NVCS based on physiognomic criteria (e.g., amount of shrub cover, which may be determined by one or two species). Plots were square or rectangular and were either 100 or 400 m2, depending on the dominant physiognomy. Boundaries of the plots were marked with flagging or with measuring tapes. Field teams collected plot information and data from mid-June through August 2007, sampling 120 plots across the mainland, South Manitou Island, and North Manitou Island