Homestead National Monument of America Vegetation Mapping Project - Spatial Vegetation Data
Vegetation Inventory
Dates
Publication Date
2010-06-30
Time Period
2010-06
Summary
Homestead National Monument (HOME) encompasses 184 acres in Gage County, west of Beatrice, Nebraska. This unique site hosts the oldest prairie restoration in the National Park system, and the second-oldest tallgrass prairie restoration known. This park unit also has a small remnant of native tallgrass prairie and remnants of bur-oak forest. The park also provides significant cultural resources, with historic buildings and a Heritage Center devoted to the history of homesteading. To better understand the distribution of the plant assemblages located on these sites, the NPS Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network started a vegetation mapping and classification effort at HOME in 2007.A three-year program was initiated to complete the [...]
Summary
Homestead National Monument (HOME) encompasses 184 acres in Gage County, west of Beatrice, Nebraska. This unique site hosts the oldest prairie restoration in the National Park system, and the second-oldest tallgrass prairie restoration known. This park unit also has a small remnant of native tallgrass prairie and remnants of bur-oak forest. The park also provides significant cultural resources, with historic buildings and a Heritage Center devoted to the history of homesteading. To better understand the distribution of the plant assemblages located on these sites, the NPS Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network started a vegetation mapping and classification effort at HOME in 2007.A three-year program was initiated to complete the task of mapping and classifying the vegetation at HOME. The Kansas Biological Survey (KBS) in conjunction with NatureServe developed a vegetation classification using the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) and produced a digital vegetation map. To classify the vegetation, 17 representative plots located throughout the approximately 1,725 acre project area (parks + environs) were sampled during the summer of 2008. Additional data were obtained from vegetation plots sampled by the Inventory & Monitoring program in 2007. Analysis of the plot data by KBS produced six distinct plant associations and alliances. Two of the communities, encompassing the upland and lowland restored tallgrass prairie area, were unique to HOME (i.e., Park Specials). Descriptions and a field key for all plant communities of HOME are included in this report.To produce the digital map, a combination of digital ortho-imagery acquired by the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency's Aerial Photography Field Office, and Global Positioning System (GPS) referenced ground data were used to interpret the complex patterns of vegetation and land-use. Upon completion, ten map units (six vegetated and four land-use) were developed and directly 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. Twelve accuracy assessment (AA) data points were collected in 2009 by KBS and used to determine the map's accuracy. The accuracy assessment revealed an overall thematic accuracy of 100%.Common to all vegetation mapping program projects, the three major components of the HOME Vegetation Mapping Project are vegetation classification, vegetation mapping, and map accuracy assessment. In this report we discuss each of these fundamental components in detail.Map Class Common Names:3-Cropfields4-Developed Land5-Successional Forest6-Bur Oak Woodland7-Native Tallgrass Prairie8-Lowland Restored Prairie9-Roadways10-Ponds/Water Bodies11-Smooth Brome12-Upland Restored Prairie
The National Vegetation Mapping Program is an interagency initiative established to inventory, classify, describe, and map vegetation in National Park units and other areas across the United States. It is administered by the USGS Center for Biological Informatics and the NPS Natural Resources Information Division, and provides baseline vegetation information to the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program.
