Field data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve

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. The mappers and classifier proceeded with field reconnaissance at JELA during 2015. The field efforts for mapping were completed during two trips in 2015. The first trip, in May, included the project orientation meeting. The second trip, in June, focused on the verification process, which tested a draft version of the vegetation field key and a sampling of preliminary map polygons. During the field reconnaissance, the mappers studied a representative sample of the natural landscape of JELA and determined much variability in the vegetation type. At each verification site, field data were collected, and the field key to vegetation types, map classification, and mapping conventions were assessed and adjusted as needed. These data were entered into a feature-class layer with relate tables and were incorporated into the geodatabase for the JELA vegetation mapping project. The field data also were imported into the PLOTS version 4.0 (National Park Service 2015) database for the project. Analyses of data from 159 legacy plots had been used to describe an initial 18 vegetation types in the Park; this classification work was completed prior to beginning this JELA vegetation mapping project. Data were collected during this project from another 87 quick plots to support vegetation types not previously identified at the Park. Data from 61 verification sites were collected to test the field key to vegetation types and the application of vegetation types to a sample set of map polygons. Furthermore, data from 594 accuracy assessment (AA) sites were collected (of which 587 were used to test accuracy of the vegetation map layer). The collective of these datasets resulted in affirming 41 natural (including ruderal) vegetation types at JELA consisting of 34 association types in the U.S. National Vegetation Classification (USNVC), 1 provisional type (potential for USNVC), 4 park-special types, 1 alliance type in the USNVC, and 1 group type in the USNVC.