Dry Tortugas National Park Vegetation Map 2009

The National Park Service Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program (NPS-VMP) funded the NPS South Florida / Caribbean Network (SFCN) to map the seven islands of Dry Tortugas National Park in 2009. The vegetation map of Dry Tortugas National Park was created by in-field polygon delineation instead of the more common photointerpretation of aerial imagery. Using the Trimble GeoXT GPS device in the field allowed the production of a finely detailed vegetation map (vegetation census) for...
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The National Park Service Vegetation Mapping Inventory Program (NPS-VMP) funded the NPS South Florida / Caribbean Network (SFCN) to map the seven islands of Dry Tortugas National Park in 2009. The vegetation map of Dry Tortugas National Park was created by in-field polygon delineation instead of the more common photointerpretation of aerial imagery. Using the Trimble GeoXT GPS device in the field allowed the production of a finely detailed vegetation map (vegetation census) for Loggerhead Key, Garden Key, Bush Key, East Key, Long Key, Middle Key, and Hospital Key. The Dry Tortugas vegetation maps were made using the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zone 17 North coordinate system and the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) with a minimum mapping unit of 25 m2. The SFCN developed a vegetation classification in congruence with the vegetation map of Dry Tortugas National Park. The Dry Tortugas vegetation classification conforms to the Rutchey et al. (2006) South Florida Vegetation Classification System coupled with the vegetation communities unique to the Dry Tortugas.