Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project Report - USGS

USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program
Colonial National Historical Park
Confidence (Conf): Values for Confidence are: C - Certain; S - Somewhat certain; N - Not
certain (null) - Not assessed or unknown.
State Name (SName): If the USNVC Association has been crosswalked to a state
classification type and it is equivalent to the USNVC type, the State Name is the name that
the Natural Heritage Program applies to the same community. A value of [gname] indicates
that the State Name is the same as the Global Name. A value of [not crosswalked] indicates
that no state type representing the concept of the USNVC Association has been identified. If
a state type has been identified that is NOT equivalent to the USNVC Association
(Standard), then the subnational type is considered a Nonstandard community. In this case,
the State Name is the name of the nonstandard community.
Reference: This is the primary reference for the Natural Heritage Program classification that
contains the State Name and confirms the presence of the Association in the state.
Local Range: A description of the total range (including present and historic, if known) of the
Association within the park.
Classification Comments: Comments about classification criteria used to define the
Association or description of any remaining issues associated with its classification in the park.
Other Comments: Additional comments about the Association within the park.
Local Description Authors: Name(s) of the person(s) primarily responsible for authorship of
the current description of this Association in the park.
Plots: List of plot codes for plots used in the identification and classification of the Association
in the park.
Inventory Notes: Information regarding the sampling of the Association in the park.
GLOBAL INFORMATION
USNVC Classification
Physiognomic Class: The second level of the USNVC which is a vegetation structural
classification adapted from UNESCO 1973 and Driscoll et al. 1984. This level is based on the
structure of the vegetation. This is determined by the height and relative percentage of cover of
the dominant life-forms: tree, shrub, dwarf-shrub, herbaceous, and nonvascular.
Physiognomic Subclass: The third level of the USNVC. This level is determined by the
predominant leaf phenology of classes defined by a tree, shrub, or dwarf-shrub stratum, the
persistence and growth form of herbaceous and nonvascular vegetation, and particle size of the
substrate for sparse vegetation (e.g., consolidated rocks, gravel/cobble).
Physiognomic Group: The fourth level of the USNVC. The group generally represents a
grouping of vegetation units based on leaf characters, such as broad-leaf, needle-leaf,
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