Native Habitat Inventory Final Report 2004 - St. Lucie County

Developing Field Data Collection Materials
For each site a series of ArcPad GIS data layers was created to be utilized by the field
personnel during the field inventory. The data layers were site boundaries, FLUCCS
polygons, landowner permission, aerial photography, and roads. There was also a custom
built data sheet that was used to collect the field data directly into the computer. These
were loaded onto a field-hardened laptop computer that was GPS capable.
Field Data Collection
Prior to beginning the field verification phase, field biologists reviewed the information
on site characteristics, the field data collection requirements, and the criteria for assessing
natural community quality. In addition, field biologists reviewed the ecological content
for each site using the preliminary GIS maps (e.g., FLUCSS classification, preliminary
FNAI classification, known rare species occurrences, and aerial photography) on the field
computer.
The field personnel used these data layers to locate the site, orient on the site, avoid areas
in which ground access was not permitted, and collect the tabular and spatial data directly
on the laptop. Thus, for each site new data layers were created that showed the
delineation and classification of each of the FNAI natural communities on sites, the GPS
location of any rare and/or exotic species. The tabular data that supports this spatial data
was collected simultaneously and linked to the spatial. Thus the natural community
quality components, key features, management recommendations and the like could be
collected for each polygon as needed.
The field team conducted detailed surveys of the vegetative community types at the 30
sites. The purpose of the field surveys was to classify and qualitatively assess the type
and condition of natural vegetative communities. Vegetative communities were
classified according to FNAI classification (FNAI 1990) and assessed according to 5
ecological criteria (see Table 5)
Site surveys occurred from June to August 2003. Survey time on a given site ranged
from a few hours to several days depending upon the acreage of the site and its
complexity. The rare species lists are comprehensive, but should not be considered
exhaustive due to the single season of sampling and the field time constraints.
Additionally, the information presented should be viewed as a snapshot describing that
natural community at one-point-in-time. Natural communities are dynamic and are
affected by long and short-term climactic changes (i.e., drought), natural processes (e.g.,
fire), and time. As a consequence of natural succession the plants and animals present
within natural community may shift over time.
The following information was collected and for each site.
• Site Rank
• Site Size
• Acres of Edge
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