Jewel Cave National Monument Spatial Vegetation Data;Cover Type / Association level of the National Vegetation Classification System

The National Park Service (NPS), in conjunction with the Biological Resources
Division (BRD) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has implemented a program
to "develop a uniform hierarchical vegetation methodology" at a national level.
The program will also create a geographic information system (GIS) database for
the parks under its management. The purpose of the data is to document the
state of vegetation within the NPS service area during the 1990's, thereby
providing a baseline study for further analysis at the Regional or Service-wide
level. The vegetation at Jewel Cave National Monument was mapped using 1:16,000
scale U.S. Forest Service Color Aerial Photography acquired August 22, 1993.
The mapping classification used two separate classification systems. All
natural vegetation used the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) as
a base. The vegetation classification was created after extensive on site
sampling and numerical analysis. The vegetation map units were derived from the
vegetation classification. Other non-natural or cultural mapping units used the
Anderson Level II classification system. The mapped area includes a buffer
around the Monument boundary.

This mapping effort originates from a long-term vegetation monitoring program
that is part of a larger Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) program started by the
National Park Service (NPS). I&M goals are, among others, to map the
vegetation of all national parks and monuments and provide a baseline inventory
of vegetation. The I&M program currently works in close cooperation with the
Biological Resources Division (BRD) of the United States Geological Survey
(USGS). The USGS/BRD continues overall management and oversight of all ongoing
mapping efforts in close cooperation with the NPS.

The purposes of the mapping effort are varied and include the following:
Provides support for NPS Resources Management. Promotes vegetation-related
research for both NPS and USGS/BRD. Provides support for NPS Planning and
Compliance. Adds to the information base for NPS Interpretation. Assists in NPS
Operations.

The location of the mapping is Jewel Cave National Monument and about a 2 mile
environs around Monument Boundaries - Black Hills, South Dakota.

Jewel Cave National Monument was responsible for obtaining permission from
adjacent land owners for property access for sampling purposes. Most of the
private lands were under some form of grazing or farming. Consequently,
sampling on these lands was not necessary. The remainder of the lands within
the mapping area are U.S. Forest Service Lands so permission was not necessary.
To reduce duplicating previous work and to help in our effort we collected
existing vegetation reports and maps from the staff at Jewel Cave National
Monument. These materials were referenced during the mapping process and the
information contained in them was incorporated where it was deemed useful.
Because soils also affect the distribution of vegetation, soil maps and soil
descriptions were also obtained as reference. These were not converted to a
digital file. Digital elevation models (DEM) were obtained to create slope and
aspect maps that helped in determining vegetation community distribution. The
sampling approach used in this mapping effort was typical of small park
sampling, where all polygons within the park boundary are sampled. Two levels
of field data gathering were conducted in this park; plots and observations.
Plots represented the most intensive sampling of the landscape and used TNC's
'Plot Form'. Observations consisted of brief descriptions and were designed to
obtain a quick overview of the landscape without spending a large amount of
time at each sample site. Observation points used the 'Observation Form' data
sheet. Examples of both 'Plot' and 'Observation' forms are included in the
companion report by TNC. Initially, plots were used to describe the vegetation
of the park. A total of 28 plots were obtained from July 29 through August 1,
1996. These plots were used by TNC to describe the vegetation associations
found within the park. These descriptions are in the companion report by TNC.
Map Validation A field trip was conducted in May of 1997 to assess the initial
mapping effort and to refine map classes.

Information for this metadata was obtained from the site
"http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/jeca/metajecaspatial.html" and put into NASA
Directory Interchange Format.