Pre-restoration vegetation data, Little Saint Francis River chat pile site, Missouri, USA, 2017 and 2018

This data set includes geospatial data and tables providing location, environmental, and vegetation data collected in 2017 and 2018 at the Little Saint Francis River chat pile restoration site, Fredericktown, Madison County, Missouri. Restoration actions are being implemeneted as part of the settlement for the Madison County Mines Superfund site to compensate the public for losses of natural resources and the services they provide as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District case. Data were collected prior to and during the early stages of restoration actions to restore bottomland forest habitat, reduce invasive plant species abundance, and improve upland woodland habitat by introducing prescribed burning to reduce stem density and favor fire-tolerant species. Restoration monitoring was designed to quantify changes in plant community attributes relevant to these goals. Pre-restoration vegetation sampling quantified plant community composition, enabled refinement of restoration objectives and identification of management strategies appropriate for USDA Ecological Site Descriptions, and yielded maps to visualize baseline invasive species abundances and inform eradication planning.