Field data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of King Mountain National Military 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. Ecologists from NatureServe established fifteen permanently marked one-hectare circular plots within the park in a grid system and another six circular plots in unique ecological areas that were not covered by the initial grid-based plot layout. The permanently marked plots are available to be used by researchers on studies ranging from bird point counts to individual plant monitoring. Ecologists collected data on all unique vegetation communities within the park and identified 13 natural and 12 human-modified or successional vegetation associations (unique ecological assemblages of plants) within the park boundary. Two other ecological communities probably exist within the park, but neither was found or confirmed from our field work. The most globally rare community in the park appears to be the Piedmont Chestnut Oak – Blackjack Oak Woodland. This xeric, fire dependent community may warrant special attention due to its relatively high global rank/rarity (G2G3). Other highly ranked communities include the Piedmont Small Stream Sweetgum Forest, the Piedmont Seepage Wetland, and the Piedmont Mesic Basic Oak-Hickory Forest.