Field data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Pea Ridge 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. Vegetation data were collected at 47 plots by MoRAP staff in May of 2011. In the lab, the locations of plots were randomly placed within the following general strata: deciduous woodlands and forests on moist upland soils, deciduous woodlands and forests on dry upland soils, deciduous woodlands and forests on slopes >20%, deciduous bottomland forests, upland juniper-dominated woodlands and forests, bottomland juniper dominated woodlands and forests, restored tallgrass prairie, disturbed grasslands and shrublands, mowed grasslands, and marsh. Plots were located >30 m from an obvious land cover edge, and for each point there was at least one alternate, should the original point be determined unusable in the field (e.g. close to an un-mapped trail or road, stand too small). Workers navigated to the stratified random plot sampling locations by GPS. Woodlands and forests were sampled with a 10 m x 40 m plot (400 sq m), shrublands and open woodlands with a 10 m x 20 m plot (200 sq m), and herbaceous vegetation with a 5 m x 20 m plot (100 sq m). Minimal flagging was used to mark the plot. Data were collected using a plot survey form. The survey form includes sections for plot location and description, as well as vegetation and environmental information about the plot. Vegetation sampling included information about structure and physiognomy, with leaf phenology, leaf type and physiognomic class recorded for the dominant vegetation stratum.