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CLASSIFICATION AND MAPPING
OF VEGETATION AND FIRE FUEL MODELS AT
DELAWARE WATER GAP
NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
Classification
and Mapping of Vegetation and Fire Fuel
Models at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area:
Volume 1 and Volume 2 (Appendix G) of 2
Technical Report
NPS/NER/NRTR—2007/076
Stephanie J. Perles1, Gregory S. Podniesinski1,
E. Eastman2,
Lesley A. Sneddons3, and Sue C. Gawler3
1 Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
208 Airport Drive
Middletown, PA 17057
2Center for Earth Observation
North Carolina State University
5112 Jordan Hall, Box 7106
Raleigh, NC 27695
3 NatureServe
11 Avenue de Lafayette, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02111
March 2007
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Northeast Region
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
__________________________________
Executive Summary
Vegetation classification
and mapping of vegetation associations, fire behavior fuel models, and
canopy cover classes were conducted at the Delaware Water Gap National
Recreation Area, creating current digital geospatial databases for the
park.
Sixty-nine vegetation associations that occur within the park were identified
and described in detail. This wide diversity of vegetation associations
is a result of several factors, including differing bedrock geology, variable
topographic features, and lengthy land use history. A map showing the
locations of vegetation associations in the park was created following
the USGS/NPS Vegetation Mapping Program protocols (The Nature Conservancy
and Environmental Systems Research Institute 1994a, b, c). These vegetation
associations were also crosswalked to the National Vegetation Classification
System, as well as the Pennsylvania and New Jersey state classifications,
in order to provide a regional and global context for the parks' vegetation.
A dichotomous field key was developed for these vegetation associations
to assist with field recognition and classification.
The five spatial data inputs required by the FARSITE fire growth simulation
model were also developed for the Delaware Water Gap. These data are essential
for fire and resource managers to adequate plan for and manage prescribed
and wildland fires. Three data layers (elevation, slope, and aspect) were
derived using spatial tools in ArcGIS from the existing digital elevation
model created by North Carolina State University. The fire behavior fuel
model data layer maps 12 fuel models that provide information on fire
behavior. The original Anderson (1982) fuel model descriptions, as well
as descriptions of the fuels within the park and the relationships between
vegetation associations and fire fuel models, are included in this report.
A canopy cover data layer was also created for the Delaware Water Gap
National Recreation Area using the four cover classes required by the
FARSITE program (Finney 1998). In addition, areas of the park with large
concentrations of dead or dying trees were identified. These areas, predominantly
dead or dying standing eastern hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis), pose
an increased fire risk.
________________________
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The file for this report is very large, therefore it has been divided into 14 pdf files. Click on a file to open it.
pdf file 1:Volume 1--Front Matter through Project Area
pdf file 2: Materials and Methods
pdf file 3: Results
pdf file 4: Discussion through end of Volume 1
pdf file 5: Volume 2--Front Matter through Key to Vegetation Associations
pdf file 6: Appendix G through Sugar Maple-American Beech-Sweet Birch Forest
pdf file 7: Sugar Maple-American Basswood Forest through Dry Oak-Mixed Hardwood
pdf file 8: Dry Oak-Heath Forest through Bottomland Oak Palustrine Forest
pdf file 9: Red Maple Palustrine Forest through Pine-Mixed Hardwood Rocky Summit
pdf file 10: Hickory-Eastern Red-cedar Rocky Woodland through Wet Meadow
pdf file 11: Silky Dogwood Successional Palustrine Shrubland through Wavy Hairgrass-Common Sheep Sorel Rock Outcrop
pdf file 12: Big Bluestem-Indiangrass Riverine Grassland through Marl Fen
pdf file 13: Water-Willow Emergent Bed through Sparsely Vegetated Cliff
pdf file 14: Calcareous Riverside Outcrop to end