Vegetation Classification and Mapping Project Report - the USGS

USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program
Wind Cave National Park
RESULTS
Vegetation Classfication and Characterization
The classification of vegetation for the WICA study area includes 28 community types
comprised of eight forest and woodland types, five shrubland types, ten herbaceous types and
five sparse vegetation types. The final classification is presented in Tables 2 and 3. A field key
and detailed type descriptions are included in Appendices 8 and 9. Many of the plant community
types sampled are typical of the ponderosa pine / prairie transition zone of the lower elevations
of the Black Hills and are well represented in the WICA study area. In fact, WICA has been
recognized as an exemplary site for Black Hills vegetation due to diversity, vegetation condition,
stand size and the relative intactness of the landscape including the presence of many natural or
simulated ecological processes (Marriott et al. Black Hills Community Inventory, in prep.).
In the study area, ponderosa pine forests and woodlands are most extensive in areas of higher
elevation in the western part. The most mesophytic of these types is ponderosa pine /
chokecherry forest, best developed on northerly aspects and on lower slopes near drainage
bottoms. Ponderosa pine / sunsedge (Figure 17), ponderosa pine / western wheatgrass and
ponderosa pine / little bluestem woodlands occur on a variety of slopes and aspects. The
ponderosa pine / little bluestem community is often the most extensive type on drier sites.
Boland Ridge (in the eastern part of the study area) also includes extensive pine cover, with the
more xerophytic community types well represented. Sizeable stands of ponderosa pine / common
juniper woodland are found only in the westernmost part of the study area, with only one stand
inside Park boundaries. This type is very common in higher elevations of the Black Hills to the
west and north.
Deciduous forests and woodlands generally are restricted to floodplains, drainage bottoms and
toeslopes, with a few scattered trees found elsewhere. The boxelder/chokecherry type is the most
common overall, occurring in drainages scattered throughout the Park. Other trees, such as
American elm, were locally abundant. Two floodplain types, plains cottonwood / western
snowberry woodland and green ash - American elm / western snowberry forest, are
Results 31