Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project Report Pipe Spring National Monument

Coles, Janet; Wight, Aneth; Von Loh, Jim; Schulz, Keith; Evenden, Angie

The Northern Colorado Plateau Inventory and Monitoring Network (NCPN) worked with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Mapping Program to describe and map vegetation at Pipe Spring National Monument (PISP). This collaborative effort involved project partners engineering-environmental Management, Inc. (e2M), the Western Region office of NatureServe, and their cooperators.The mapping area is 35.4 hectares (87.4 acres), encompassing the lands within the Monument boundary (16.2 ha / 40 acres) and an environs extending 100 m (330 feet) into the surrounding Kaibab Paiute Reservation (19.2 ha / 47.4 acres). Project partners identified plant associations for PISP and determine how best to map them using 1:12,000-scale, true color orthophotography. The team collected vegetation and environmental data from three vegetation classification plots and four observation points. No supplemental fuels data were collected during the project. Fieldwork and mapping were completed in 2008.Analysis of the plot data revealed six National Vegetation Classification plant associations within the Monument and environs. Two additional native vegetation communities were described from field notes. Six unvegetated land use types were delineated, including roads and NPS facilities, as well as eight types representing introduced or cultivated vegetation.Vegetation and land use were delineated in the field on base maps of 1:12,000 true-color orthophotography acquired in 2006. This was possible because of the small size of the Monument and because every part of the unit is accessible on foot. Because PISP is a relatively small park unit, the program standard minimum mapping unit of 0.5 ha was discarded and polygons were delineated to approximately 0.1 ha. In addition, the park requested that all occurrences of wetland plant species be recorded.Thirty-eight map polygons representing 12 natural vegetation map classes were developed for the PISP mapping project; these describe 86% of the mapping area. Six developed land use map classes describe 22 polygons covering 8% of the mapping area. Thirteen polygons covering 6% of the mapping area represent the eight introduced or cultivated vegetation map classes. Average polygon size across all map classes is 0.5 ha (1.2 acres). The most frequent vegetation mapping unit is Fourwing Saltbush Shrubland (Map Class # 31) with 11 polygons covering 15.8 ha (39 acres) or 45% of the mapping area. Because each polygon was visited, verified, and delineated in the field, a traditional thematic accuracy assessment of the vegetated map classes was not employed.

Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project Report Pipe Spring National Monument

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