Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project Report - USGS

USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program
Colonial National Historical Park
Lifeform: The lifeform of each component plant species that is present within each
designated stratum of the community as it occurs rangewide. Lifeform definitions are from
Table 3.1, page 37, of Whittaker, R. H. 1975. Communities and ecosystems. Second edition.
Macmillan Publishing Co. New York. 387 pp. Values for Lifeform are:
Needle-leaved tree Palm shrub
Broad-leaved deciduous tree Dwarf-shrub
Broad-leaved evergreen tree Semi-shrub
Thorn tree Succulent shrub
Evergreen schlerophyllous tree Ephiphyte
Succulent tree Vine/Liana
Palm tree Forb
Tree fern Graminoid
Bamboo Succulent forb
Needle-leaved shrub Aquatic herb (floating & submergent)
Broad-leaved deciduous shrub Moss
Broad-leaved evergreen shrub Alga
Thorn shrub Lichen
Evergreen schlerophyllous shrub Fern or fern ally
Other/unknown Other herbaceous
Other shrub Liverwort/hornwort
Species: Global scientific name (and common name) for each floristic component species of
the Association as it occurs rangewide.
Characteristic Species: Component plant species that are characteristic for the Association as it
occurs rangewide.
Other Noteworthy Species: Other noteworthy species (i.e., species that are not necessarily
diagnostic of the Association, but that are worth noting for some other reasons, such as those that
are rare species or nonnative invasives) that are found within the Association rangewide.
USFWS Wetland System: Systems developed for the classification of wetlands by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. System refers to a complex of wetlands and deepwater habitats
that share the influence of similar hydrologic, geomorphic, chemical, or biological factors.
As defined in Cowardin et al. (1979), the values are:
Marine - consists of open ocean overlying the continental shelf and its associated highenergy
coastline.
Estuarine - consists of deepwater tidal habitats and adjacent tidal wetlands that are
usually semi-enclosed by land but have open, partly obstructed, or sporadic access to
the open ocean, and in which ocean water is at least occasionally diluted by
freshwater runoff from the land.
Riverine - includes all wetlands and deepwater habitats contained with a channel, with
two exceptions: (1) wetlands dominated by trees, shrubs, persistent emergents,
emergent mosses, or lichens, and (2) habitats with water containing ocean-derived
salts in excess of 0.5%.
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