Integrated Terrain Unit Map (ITUM) for Martinelli Slope, Niwot Ridge LTER Project Area, Colorado

A 300 x 600 m integrated terrain unit map (ITUM) was produced at 1:500 scale
inside the 350 x 650 m Martinelli grid, and the 1:500 digital elevation model (DEM).
Vegetation was mapped using Komarkova's (1979) classification system
(Braun-Blanquet) units. All map units were mapped to 1/8-inch minimum
map-polygon-size resolution. The map is part of the Martinelli grid geographic
information system (GIS). Many GIS projects use an approach in which existing mapped
information is digitized into the GIS database directly from the original sources.
The maps may have different map scale, map-unit resolutions, dates of data
collection, and classification systems. When these different sources are combined in
a GIS, artifacts may arise due to boundary mismatches and scale incompatibility
(Dangermond and Harnden 1990). Integrated geobotanical mapping can minimize many of
these problems. This method simultaneously maps vegetation and other terrain
features that are interpreted on a common air-photo base (Everett et al. 1978,
Walker et al. 1980). We use the term geobotany in its traditional European sense to
refer to the study of plant communities and their relationships to geology,
landforms, and soils (Braun-Blanquet 1932). Terrain geomorphic boundaries are used
to guide the delineation on aerial photographs of most major vegetation boundaries
similiar to the landscape-guided vegetation mapping approach developed in Europe
(Zonneveld 1988) and the integrated terrain unit mapping approach developed by the
Environmental System Research Institute in Redlands, CA (Dangermond and Harnden
1990). Additional information concerning the Niwot Ridge LTER GIS can be found in
Walker et al. (1993). [1]Braun-Blanquet, J. 1932. Plant sociology: The study of
plant communities. New York: McGraw-Hill, 439 pp. [2]Everett, K.R., P.J. Webber,
D.A. Walker, R.J. Parkinson, and J. Brown. 1978. A geoecological mapping scheme for
Alaskan coastal tundra. Third International Conference on Permafrost, 10-13 July
1978, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. [3]Komarkova, V. 1979. Alpine vegetation of the
Indian Peaks area, Front Range, Colorado Rocky Mountains. Vaduz (Germany): J.
Cramer, 591 pp. [4]Walker, D.A., K.R. Everett, P.J. Webber, and J. Brown. 1980.
Geobotanical atlas of the Prudhoe Bay region, Alaska. United States Army Cold
Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, CRREL Report #80, Hanover, NH, 69 pp.
[5]Zonneveld, I.S. 1988. The ITC method of mapping natural and semi- natural
vegetation. Pp. 401-426 in Kuchler, A.W., and I.S. Zonneveld (eds.). Vegetation
mapping. Boston: Kluwer Academic. [6]Dangermond, J., and E. Harnden. 1990. Map data
standardization: A methodology for integrating thematic cartographic data before
automation. ARC News 12(2): 16-19. [7]Walker, D.A., J.C. Halfpenny, M.D. Walker, and
C.A. Wessman. 1993. Long-term studies of snow-vegetation interactions. Bioscience
43(5): 287-301. [8]Walker, D.A., B.E. Lewis, W.B. Krantz, E.T. Price, and R.D.
Tabler. 1994. Hierarchic studies of snow-ecosystem interactions: A 100-year
snow-alteration experiment. Pp. 407-414 In: Ferrik, M. (ed.). Proceedings of the
Fiftieth Annual Eastern and Western Snow Conference, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada,
8-10 June 1993. 441 pp.