Field data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area

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. Field work and ground truthing for Chattahoochee River NRA took place in June, July, and August 2014. Field visits were aimed at giving specific attention to representative habitats, rare and important communities, areas that have been managed, disturbed, or invaded, and plots previously surveyed by NatureServe to collect data on canopy species composition, diagnostic species for the National Vegetation Classification System, and terrain, similar to NatureServe’s “Quick Plot” surveys. A total of seven field visits or investigations and 252 discrete point locations were collected at Chattahoochee River NRA. The most common vegetation classes found at Chattahoochee River NRA were Southern Red Oak—White Oak Mixed Oak Forest (7244) and Piedmont Dry—Mesic Basic White Oak—Hickory Forest (7232) with 10.4% and 9.9% of the park respectively. The smallest class was Southern Woolgrass Bulrush Marsh (3866) and Knotweed Pondshore and Ditchbank Vegetation (4966), at less than 0.05% each. Water, covering 19.2 % of the park, represents a higher percentage of area than any vegetation class. A rigorous accuracy assessment was conducted on the 30 map classes within the boundary of the park representing floristic types within the National Vegetation Classification System. Results showed an 82% map accuracy and a kappa rating of 81% using 356 accuracy assessment points.