Grand Teton National Park 2002-2005 Vegetation Mapping Project Final Report

NPS-USGS Vegetation Mapping Program; Cogan, Dan; Varga, Klara; Kittel, Gwen; McCloskey, Kelly; Abendroth, Diane; Gremer, Jennifer; Bolen, Cory

Grand Teton National Park (GRTE) and the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway (JODR) encompass approximately 522 square miles in Northwest Wyoming directly south of Yellowstone National Park and just east of the Idaho border. This rugged terrain supports over 1000 species of vascular plants growing in communities representing forests, sagebrush flats, riparian corridors, wetlands and alpine tundra. In 2002 this project was started to map the vegetation and to develop a classification for the plant communities in the study area. This report documents those efforts. To complete the task of mapping the diverse vegetation at GRTE, a multi-year program was initiated. This consisted of two major tasks. Phase one, directed by Grand Teton National Park in conjunction with NatureServe and the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database program developed a vegetation classification using the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS). Phase two, directed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s (BOR) Remote Sensing and GIS group based in Denver, Colorado produced a digital vegetation map. To classify the vegetation, 635 representative plots located throughout the approximately 550,087 acre (222,613 ha) project area (parks + environs) were sampled during the summers of 2002 and 2003. Analysis of the plot data using ordination and clustering techniques produced 167 distinct plant associations, 10 of which were newly described at Grand Teton National Park. In addition, 40 unique plant associations known only from the park (i.e. Park Specials) were also described. A total of 207 plant association descriptions and a field key are included in this report. To produce the digital map, a combination of 1:12,000-scale true color aerial photography, 1:12,000-scale true color ortho-rectified imagery, and 3 years of ground-truthing were used to interpret the complex patterns of vegetation and land-use. In the end, 52 map units were developed and directly cross-walked or matched to corresponding plant associations and land-use classes. All of the interpreted and remotely sensed data were converted to Geographic Information System (GIS) databases using ArcGIS© software. Draft maps were printed, field tested, reviewed and revised. 1,122 accuracy assessment data points were collected and used to determine the map’s accuracy. After final revisions, the accuracy assessment revealed an overall thematic accuracy of 82%.

Grand Teton National Park 2002-2005 Vegetation Mapping Project Final Report

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