Field data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Rainbow Bridge 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. The mapping area is approximately 505,642 hectares (1,249,468 acres), encompassing Rainbow Bridge National Monument, at 65 hectares (160 acres), as well as Glen Canyon NRA. Guided by a gradsect analysis created by Kass Green Associates, vegetation classification plot and observation point data were collected over three field seasons (2011–2013). A portion of GLCA in the Orange Cliffs section had previously been sampled in the fall of 2004 by NCPN ecologists as part of the Canyonlands National Park vegetation mapping effort. Field crew members collected vegetation and environmental data from 1,164 vegetation classification plots and 51 observation points from 2004 and 2011–2013. Using various multivariate statistical and tabular tools, and adhering to the guidelines of the National Vegetation Classification Standard (NVCS),vegetation plot data were analyzed by NCPN, GLCA/RABR, and NatureServe ecologists and revealed 193 National Vegetation Classification (NVC) plant associations for GLCA/RABR, representing 80 NVC alliances and 35 NVC groups. The final assignment of plots to associations of the NVC Standard and the local and global plant association descriptions, based on the classification, were completed in 2014, with minor revisions through August 2016.