Vegetation classification and mapping: Gulf Islands National Seashore
Authors: Ley Matt , Baldvins Tom , Jones David , Pilkington Hanna , Anderson Kelly 
Published: May 2023

The Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) vegetation inventory project classified and mapped vegetation on park-owned lands within the administrative boundary and estimated thematic map accuracy quantitatively. The project began in June 2016. National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program provided technical guidance. The overall process included initial planning and scoping, imagery procurement, field data collection, data analysis, imagery interpretation/classification, accuracy assessment (AA), and report writing and database development. Initial planning and scoping meetings took place during May, 2016 in Ocean Springs, Mississippi where representatives gathered from GUIS, the NPS Gulf Coast Inventory and Monitoring Network, and Colorado State University. Primary imagery used for interpretation was 4-band (RGB and CIR) orthoimages from 2014 and 2016 with resolutions of 15 centimeters (cm) (Florida only) and 30 cm. Supplemental imagery with varying coverage across the study area included National Aerial Imagery Program 50 cm imagery for Mississippi (2016) and Florida (2017), 15 and 30 cm true color Digital Earth Model imagery for Mississippi (2016 and 2017), and current and historical true-color Google Earth and Bing Map imagery. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration National Geodetic Survey 30 cm true color imagery from 2017 (post Hurricane Nate) supported remapping the Mississippi barrier islands after Hurricane Nate. The preliminary vegetation classification included 59 United States National Vegetation Classification (USNVC) associations. Existing vegetation and mapping data combined with vegetation plot data contributed to the final vegetation classification. Quantitative classification using hierarchical clustering and professional expertise was supported by vegetation data collected from 250 plots in 2016 and 29 plots in 2017 and 2018, as well as other observational data. The final vegetation classification includes 39 USNVC associations and 5 park special types; 18 forest and woodland, 7 shrubland, 17 herbaceous, and 2 sparse vegetation types were identified. The final GUIS map consists of 38 map classes. Land cover classes include four types: non-vegetated barren land / borrow pit, developed open space, developed low – high intensity, and water/ocean. Of the 34 vegetation map classes, 26 represent a single USNVC association/park special, six map classes contain two USNVC associations/park specials, and two map classes contain three USNVC associations/park specials. Forest and woodland associations had an abundance of sand pine (Pinus clausa), slash pine (Pinus elliottii), sand live oak (Quercus geminata), yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), wax myrtle (Morella cerifera), and saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). Shrubland associations supported dominant species such as eastern baccharis (Baccharis halimifolia), yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), wax myrtle (Morella cerifera), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), and sand live oak (Quercus geminata). Herbaceous associations commonly included camphorweed (Heterotheca subaxillaris), needlegrass rush (Juncus roemerianus), bitter seabeach grass (Panicum amarum var. amarum), gulf bluestem (Schizachyrium maritimum), saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens), and sea oats (Uniola paniculata). The final GUIS vegetation map consists of 1,268 polygons totaling 35,769.0 hectares (ha) or 88,387.2 acres (ac). Mean polygon size excluding water is 3.6 ha (8.9 ac). The most abundant land cover class is open water/ocean which accounts for approximately 31,437.7 ha (77,684.2 ac) or 87.9% of the total mapped area. Natural and ruderal vegetation consists of 4,176.8 ha (10,321.1 ac) or 11.6% of the total area. Within the natural and ruderal vegetation types, herbaceous types are the most extensive with 1945.1 ha (4,806.4 ac) or 46.5%, followed by forest and woodland types with 804.9 ha (1,989.0 ac) or 19.3%, sparse vegetation types with 726.9 ha (1,796.1 ac) or 17.4%, and shrubland types with 699.9 ha (1,729.5 ac) or 16.8%. Developed open space, which can include a matrix of roads, parking lots, park-like areas and campgrounds account for 153.8 ha (380.0 ac) or 0.43% of the total mapped area. Artificially non-vegetated barren land is rare and only accounts for 0.74 ha (1.82 ac) or 0.002% of the total area. We collected 701 AA samples to evaluate the thematic accuracy of the vegetation map. Final thematic accuracy, as a simple proportion of correct versus incorrect field calls, is 93.0%. Overall weighted map class accuracy is 93.6%, where the area of each map class was weighted in proportion to the percentage of total park area. This method provides more weight to larger map classes in the park. Each map class had an individual thematic accuracy goal of at least 80%. The hurricane impact area map class was the only class that fell below this target with an accuracy of 73.5%. The vegetation communities impacted by the hurricane are highly dynamic and regenerated quickly following the disturbance event, contributing to map class disagreement during the accuracy assessment phase. No other map classes fell below the 80% accuracy threshold. In addition to the vegetation polygon database and map, several products to support park resource management are provided including the vegetation classification, field key to the associations, local association descriptions, photographic database, project geodatabase, ArcGIS .mxd files for map posters, and aerial imagery acquired for the project. The project geodatabase links the spatial vegetation data layer to vegetation classification, plot photos, project boundary extent, AA points, and the PLOTS database. The geodatabase includes USNVC hierarchy tables allowing for spatial queries of data associated with a vegetation polygon or sample point. All geospatial products are projected using North American Datum 1983 (NAD83) in Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 16 N. The final report includes methods and results, contingency tables showing AA results, field forms, species list, and a guide to imagery interpretation. These products provide useful information to assist with management of park resources and inform future management decisions. Use of standard national vegetation classification and mapping protocols facilitates effective resource stewardship by ensuring the compatibility and widespread use throughout the NPS as well as other federal and state agencies. Products support a wide variety of resource assessments, park management and planning needs. Associated information provides a structure for framing and answering critical scientific questions about vegetation communities and their relationship to environmental processes across the landscape.