Field data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Grand Canyon National Park and Parashant National Monument
2009-2012. Field data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Grand Canyon National Park and Parashant National Monument
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. Establishing the location of the plot required the crew to find points where target vegetation was homogeneous and representative of the vegetation in that area. Representativeness included both the species composition and the stratification of species in to structure. For example, a stand with 30% cover of white fir seedlings under a mature canopy of ponderosa pine is very different than a stand with both species in the canopy. Plots had to be more than 30 meters from boundaries with other vegetation types to avoid sampling transitions between two contiguous vegetation types. Classification plots were almost all 20 x 20 meter squares with diagonals pointing north-south and east-west. Measuring tapes were run across the central point to the plot corners using a compass to determine direction. Although the National Vegetation Characterization Program (The Nature Conservancy 1994) recommended sampling dwarf-shrubland and herbaceous vegetation in 10 x 10 meter plots, the experience of crews in the field was that it took no longer to survey the larger plots, and standardizing the plot size made the sampling effort equal across all vegetation types. Exceptions to this rule were made for unusually shaped areas such as riparian fringes and dry wash vegetation in constrained canyons where plots were laid out as extended rectangles covering 400 m2. Overall, field crews worked the equivalent of 25 eight-day field sessions between the summers of 2007 and 2008. A total of 1496 vegetation classification plots were surveyed, 378 of which included the collection of fuels data. Crews also collected data from 700 observation points, 566 in 2007 and 135 in 2008.
- Type
- Assemblage
- Units
- GRCA , PARA , VMI
- Keywords
- Accuracy Assessment, botanical survey, Classification, Geodatabase, Habitat Types, Imagery, National Vegetation Classification, NVC, NVCS, Plots, Releve, Relevé, Remote Sensing, USNVCS, Vegetation, Vegetation Inventory, Vegetation Map, Vegetation Mapping