Classification of the plant communities of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Washington
Rust SK. 2017. Classification of the plant communities of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, Washington. Natural Resource Report. NPS/LARO/NRR—2017/1465. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado
Work on the vegetation map for Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area was initiated in May 2007. The National Recreation Area occurs in central and northeast Washington, within the Columbia Basin and Okanogan Highlands eco-regional sections. Given its geographic breadth, the National Recreation Area encompasses considerable geologic and climatic diversity. Vegetation within the area ranges from xeric shrub-steppe to coniferous forest. Initial plant community groups were identified using hierarchical cluster analysis. Plant community groups were successively partitioned to optimize within-group homogeneity, between-group difference, and the number of groups using indicator species analysis and multi-response permutation procedures. Decisions regarding the identification of plant associations within the data were informed by cross-walking candidate community groupings to the National Vegetation Classification. Classification and regression tree analysis (recursive partitioning) was employed in the development of dichotomous keys and the evaluation of cluster analysis results. Eighty-one plant communities are identified as occurring within Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. Fifty-nine percent of associations identified within the National Recreation Area are currently listed in the National Vegetation Classification. Associations described but not recognized by the National Vegetation Classification include: (1) semi-natural vegetation (12 associations) and (2) plant communities (21 associations) that have not been described previously at the association level. Plant associations that should be considered for inclusion in the National Vegetation Classification are listed. A dichotomous key to the classification is presented in Appendix A. Summaries of stand composition are provided.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Rust, Steven
- Date of Issue
- 2017-07-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- LARO , NRSS , UCBN
- Keywords
- Accuracy Assessment, Aerial Photography, alliances, Associations, community association, Digital Orthophoto, Digital Spatial Database, DOQ, DOQQ, Field Data, flight line, GIS, GPS, habitat mapping, Inventory Projects, Landcover, Landscape, National Park, National Park Service Inventory, National Vegetation Classification Standard, National Vegetation Classification System, NVCS, Orthophoto, Plots, U.S. National Vegetation Classification, USNVC, USNVCS, Vegetation Inventory, Vegetation Inventory Report, Vegetation Map Report, Vegetation Mapping, Vegetation Plots