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June 1 - 3 , 1978 - University of Hawaii at Manoa

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HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK CRATER DISTRICT<br />

RESOURCES BASIC INVENTORY:<br />

VEGETATION MAP OF THE CRATER DISTRICT<br />

Louis D. Whiteaker<br />

Department <strong>of</strong> Botany<br />

<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Hawaii</strong> <strong>at</strong> <strong>Manoa</strong><br />

Honolulu, <strong>Hawaii</strong> 96822<br />

A veget<strong>at</strong>ion map <strong>of</strong> the Cr<strong>at</strong>er District <strong>of</strong> Haleakala<br />

N<strong>at</strong>ional Park was produced <strong>at</strong> a scale <strong>of</strong> 1:24,000 th<strong>at</strong> can over-<br />

lay a composite <strong>of</strong> the USGS topographic quadrangle maps th<strong>at</strong><br />

cover the same area. After an initial field reconnaissance, the<br />

mapping was carried out using 1: 12,000 aerial photographs. The<br />

map units were field checked as to the accuracy <strong>of</strong> the boundary<br />

positions and the structural and floristic composition <strong>of</strong> the<br />

veget<strong>at</strong>ion units. The boundaries were transferred to overlays on<br />

1:12,000 prints <strong>of</strong> NASA false infrared color aerial photographs.<br />

These maps served as a base for the final map which was produced<br />

with photographic methods.<br />

The mapped veget<strong>at</strong>ion has been classified into 53<br />

structural-floristic communities th<strong>at</strong> are grouped into four<br />

structural veget<strong>at</strong>ion-types: forest communities, scrub commu-<br />

nities, grassland communities, and high altitude desert commu-<br />

nities. Forest communities were defined as areas with the<br />

tallest veget<strong>at</strong>ion layer composed <strong>of</strong> woody veget<strong>at</strong>ion gre<strong>at</strong>er<br />

than 5 m tall th<strong>at</strong> had <strong>at</strong> least 30% crown cover. Scrub commu-<br />

nities were defined as areas in which the uppermost veget<strong>at</strong>ion<br />

layer consisted <strong>of</strong> woody veget<strong>at</strong>ion gre<strong>at</strong>er than 0.3 m but less<br />

than 5 m in height with crown cover gre<strong>at</strong>er than 30%. Grassland<br />

communities were defined as areas in which grass species had more<br />

than 30% cover while woody species had less than 30% cover. High<br />

altitude desert communities were defined as areas with less than<br />

30% total plant cover.<br />

Cover has been defined by Mueller-Dombois and Ellenberg<br />

(1974) as the vertical projection <strong>of</strong> the crown or shoot areas <strong>of</strong><br />

a species to the ground and expressed as a percentage <strong>of</strong> the ref-<br />

erence area. In this study, closed cover was defined as gre<strong>at</strong>er<br />

than 60%, open cover as between 30%-60%, and sparse cover as less<br />

than 30%.<br />

The communities were labeled using a combin<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>of</strong> symbols<br />

derived from generic names or other predominant surface cover<br />

th<strong>at</strong> correspond as closely as possible to and are used in a sim-<br />

ilar manner as those used in Mueller-Dombois and Fosberg's (1974)<br />

veget<strong>at</strong>ion map <strong>of</strong> <strong>Hawaii</strong> Volcanoes N<strong>at</strong>ional Park. A total <strong>of</strong> 19<br />

symbols were used in combin<strong>at</strong>ions to classify the veget<strong>at</strong>ion into<br />

the 53 structural-£lor istic communities th<strong>at</strong> were mapped.

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