VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION AND MAPPING AT FREDRICKSBURG AND SPOTSYLVANIA NATIONAL MILITARY PARK, VIRGINIA

Technical Report NPS/NER/NRTR—2008/126

Kristin Taverna

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Division of Natural Heritage
217 Governor Street, 3rd Floor
Richmond, VA 23219

June 2008

U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Northeast Region
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Summary

Accurate and up-to-date vegetation maps are recognized by the National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program as one of twelve basic data sets for every national park with significant natural resources. The National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have put forth standards and protocols for classification and mapping of vegetation communities on NPS lands. The USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program recognizes the United States National Vegetation Classification (USNVC) as the standard vegetation classification to be used in these mapping projects.

Vegetation data collected from seven national parks in Virginia were combined with over 2,000 existing plot samples from throughout the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont and Coastal Plain and used to refine the USNVC for the mid-Atlantic region. This classification was used to map and describe the vegetation at those seven national parks.

This report documents the classification and mapping of vegetation and other land-use classes at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. Twenty-one map classes representing 19 USNVC associations, two nonstandard, park-specific classes, and three Anderson Level II land-use categories were used to map the 3,157 ha (7,800 ac) park. Vegetation map classes were determined through extensive field reconnaissance, data collection, and analysis. Aerial photography from 2002 served as the base map, and field sampling was conducted from 2002– 2005. Spatial data were digitized onscreen over digital orthophoto mosaics created from scanned color infrared, stereo pair 1:6,000 scale aerial photography using a 0.5-ha minimum mapping unit.

Ten map classes represent later successional forests and cover approximately 48% (1,510 ha [3,731 ac]) of the park. These map classes can be broadly characterized based on different environmental settings, such as upland forests, alluvial floodplain forests, and non-alluvial wetlands. Early successional or transitional vegetation covers 31% (966 ha [2,387 ac]) of the land in the park. Cultural map classes cover 21% (680 ha [1,680 ac]) of the park, and include the Anderson land-use categories and other man-made or maintained areas in the park
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A vegetation map of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park was created following the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program protocols. Vegetation map classes were crosswalked to the Natural Communities of Virginia and to the USNVC in order to provide a regional and global context for the park’s vegetation. The thematic accuracy of the vegetation map was assessed using a stratified random sampling approach, distributing the sampling effort across the map classes. The number and distribution of accuracy assessment sampling points was determined by map class abundance and frequency as recommended in the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program protocols, with one regional modification to accommodate the
vegetation pattern seen in the park. Two hundred and seventeen randomly selected accuracy assessment sampling points were collected throughout the park. The map was edited based on initial accuracy assessment results to better represent the vegetation in the park. The Kappa Index for the final vegetation map was 78.3%±4.8%, with an overall accuracy of 81.1%.

A field key to the vegetation and detailed descriptions for map classes or vegetation associations within a map class were developed to assist with field recognition and classification. Additional products associated with this project include: leaf-on and leaf-off orthophoto mosaics, database of vegetation plot data, digital photos of vegetation associations, and spatial data files for the vegetation map, plot sample points, and accuracy assessment sample points with associated Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)-compliant metadata.

Products for Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park and similar national park vegetation mapping projects can be accessed at the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program
website: http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/.

Keywords: vegetation association, vegetation classification, vegetation mapping, Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

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Appendix A through Appendix I: Acidic Oak-Hickory Forest

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Appendix I: Coastal Plain Mixed Oak / Heath Forest to end of the report