Report Supplements and Field data for the Vegetation Mapping Inventory Project of Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National 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 Everglades National Park vegetation mapping project is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). It is a cooperative effort between the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the National Park Service Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program (NPS VMI). The goal of this project is to produce a spatially and thematically accurate vegetation map of Everglades National Park (EVER) prior to the completion of restoration efforts associated with CERP. This spatial product will serve as a record of baseline vegetation conditions for the purpose of: (1) documenting changes to the spatial extent, pattern, and proportion of plant communities within EVER as they respond to hydrologic modifications resulting from the implementation of the CERP; and (2) providing vegetation and land-cover information to NPS park managers and scientists for use in resource management, research, and monitoring. This project covers an area of approximately 7,400 square kilometers (1.84 million acres [ac]) and consists of seven mapping regions: four regions in EVER, Regions 1–4; and three in BICY, Regions 5–7. Region 1 – Shark River Slough/Long Pine Key; Region 2 – The Southeast Saline Everglades; Region 3 – The Southwest Coastal Everglades; and Region 4 – The Northwest Coastal Everglades. Region 1 was mapped by the SFWMD and USACE while Regions 2-4 were mapped by the South Florida Caribbean Network (SFCN). Photo-interpretation on the map was performed by superimposing a 50 × 50-meter (164 × 164-feet [ft] or 0.25 hectare [0.61 ac]) grid cell vector matrix over stereoscopic, 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) spatial resolution, color-infrared aerial imagery, acquired by the SFWMD in 2009, on a digital photogrammetric workstation. Photo-interpreters identified the dominant community in each cell by applying majority-rule algorithms, recognizing community-specific spectral signatures, and referencing an extensive ground-truth database. The dominant vegetation community within each grid cell was classified using a hierarchical classification system developed for this project. Additionally, photo-interpreters categorized the absolute cover of invasive species and cattails (Typha sp.) detected as either: Sparse (10–49%), Dominant (50–89%), or Monotypic (90–100%).