Vegetation classification and mapping of land additions at Richmond National Battlefield Park, Virginia: Addendum to technical report NPS/NER/NRTR 2008/128

Abstract

In 2008 and 2015, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage produced vegetation maps for Richmond National Battlefield Park, following the protocols of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) – National Park Service (NPS) Vegetation Mapping Program. The original 2008 report was part of a regional project to map and classify the vegetation in seven national parks in Virginia. The 2015 report was an addendum to the original report and mapped the vegetation in newly acquired parcels. Since 2015, the park has acquired an additional 820 acres of land within 12 individual parcels, including the 650 acre North Anna unit. This report is an addendum to the 2008 and 2015 reports and documents the mapping of vegetation and other land-use classes for the 12 new land parcels at Richmond National Battlefield Park, with an updated vegetation map for the entire park. The updated map and associated data provide information on the sensitivity and ecological integrity of habitats and can help prioritize areas for protection. The vegetation map of the new land parcels includes eighteen map classes, representing 14 associations from the United States National Vegetation Classification, one nonstandard, park-specific class, and three Anderson Level II land-use categories. The vegetation classification and map classes are consistent with the original 2008 report. Vegetation-map classes for the new land parcels were identified through field reconnaissance, data collection, and aerial photo interpretation. Aerial photography from 2017 served as the base map for mapping the 12 new parcels, and field sampling was conducted in the summer of 2020. Three new map classes for the Park were encountered and described during the study, all within the North Anna park unit. These map classes are Coastal Plain / Outer Piedmont Basic Mesic Forest, Northern Coastal Plain / Piedmont Oak – Beech / Heath Forest, and Southern Piedmont / Inner Coastal Plain Floodplain Terrace Forest. The examples of Coastal Plain / Outer Piedmont Basic Mesic Forest and Southern Piedmont / Inner Coastal Plain Floodplain Terrace Forest at North Anna meet the criteria of size, condition, and landscape context to be considered a Natural Heritage exemplary natural community occurrence and should be targeted for protection and management as needed. New local and global descriptions for the three map classes are included as part of this report. Refinements were made to the vegetation field key to include the new map classes. The updated field key is part of this report. An updated table listing the number of polygons and total hectares for each of the 28 vegetation- map classes over the entire park is also included in the report. A GIS coverage containing a vegetation map for the entire park with updated Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) compliant metadata was completed for this project. The attribute table field names are the same as the 2008 and 2015 products, with the exception of an additional field indicating the year each polygon was last edited.