New York Natural Heritage Program 20070630 vector digital data http://www1.usgs.gov/vip/gate/gateplot.zip doi:10.5066/F7GH9FWK Location of vegetation sampling plots used to collect data for vegetation classification and mapping at Gateway National Recreation Area. To identify locations of plots from which data was collected to use in the classification and mapping efforts at Gateway National Recreation Area. 20070630 ground condition Complete None planned Gateway National Recreation Area and environs -74.141558 -73.815313 40.658418 40.427225 none plot vegetation community classification vegetation association map National Park Service none Gateway National Recreation Area New York New Jersey None Standardized National Vegetation Classification System vegetation classification alliance community association Kingdom Plantae none none New York Natural Heritage Program Greg Edinger Chief Ecologist mailing and physical address

625 Broadway, 5th floor

Albany New York 12233-4757 USA (518) 402-8947 (518) 402-8925 gjedinge@gw.dec.state.ny.us http://www1.usgs.gov/vip/gate/gateplots.pdf Locations of vegetation plots; low resolution for web browsing. PDF New York Natural Heritage Program Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.2.2.1350 ESRI point geometry Each plot is represented by one point. All points fall within the mapped polygons. All vegetation plot sampling followed the USGS/NPS Vegetation Mapping Program and NY Natural Heritage protocols. To determine the number of plots that should have been sampled, the preliminary vegetation map was used as a guide. The number of vegetation cover types and the number of polygons per cover type was examined. The USGS/NPS Vegetation Mapping Protocol suggests that each vegetation association should have been sampled at least three times in order to capture the naturally occurring variation within the park. Therefore, at least three polygons of each vegetation cover type were selected for sampling. For vegetation cover types with less than three polygons, each polygon was selected for sampling. For vegetation cover types with numerous polygons, or for types that covered large areas, polygons were selected that represented different aerial photograph signatures and environmental settings in order to capture the natural range of variability of the vegetation. Polygons that represented cultural types labeled with Anderson level II categories were not sampled. Within each polygon selected for sampling, a plot was established in an area that most represents the existing vegetation association. All vegetation data were collected following NatureServe's accepted natural heritage sampling protocols, with 20 m x 20 m plots in forests and woodlands, 10 m x 10 m plots in shrublands and herbaceous vegetation. The vegetation was visually divided into eight strata: emergent trees (variable height), tree canopy (variable height), tree subcanopy (>5 m), tall shrub (2-5 m), short shrub (<2 m), herbaceous, non-vascular, and vines. The percent cover was estimated for each species in each stratum. Specimens of species that were not identifiable in the field were collected for later identification. The diameter at breast height (1.3 m) was measured with a dbh tape for all trees larger than 10 cm in diameter that were rooted in the plot. The diameters were recorded by species and strata. In addition to floristic information, the following environmental variables were recorded at each plot: slope, aspect, topographic position, hydrologic regime, soil stoniness, average soil texture, and soil drainage. Any unvegetated area of the plot was characterized by the exposed substrate. Notes were taken on the plot representativeness of the surrounding vegetation and any other significant environmental information, such as landscape context, herbivory, stand health, recent disturbance, or evidence of historic disturbance. Plot data and reference observation point data were collected digitally in the field using an iPAQ hand-held computer with software (Hand-Held Database - HHDB) and imported to the Field Form Database (FFDB) developed by NY Natural Heritage. Prior to the development of the HHDB and FFDB plot data were collected on paper forms. A digital photograph was taken at most of the plot sampling locations. The location of each plot was recorded with a Garmin 12 Map GPS unit. The datum on the GPS unit was set to North American 1983 (Conus) and the coordinate system was set to Universal Trans-Mercator (UTM) zone 18. Plot sampling was conducted from June 23 to October 8, 2003 and from June 19 to October 6, 2004. 20040930 New York Natural Heritage Program mailing and physical address

625 Broadway, 5th floor

Albany New York 12233-4757 USA (518) 402-8947 (518) 402-8925 gjedinge@gw.dec.state.ny.us Vector Entity point 178 Universal Transverse Mercator 18 0.999600 -75.000000 0.000000 500000.000000 0.000000 coordinate pair 0.000001 0.000001 meters North American Datum of 1983 Geodetic Reference System 80 6378137.000000 298.257222 gate_veg_plots_2004 Shapefile attribute table New York Natural Heritage Program FID Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. Shape Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. PLOT_CODE plot code NPS four letter park code plus unique number NPS four letter park code plus unique number USGS/CSS/Core Science Analytics and Synthesis USGS-NPS Vegetation Characterization Program Coordinator mailing and physical address

Denver Federal Center, Building 810, MS 302

Denver Colorado 80225 (303) 202-4220 303-202-4219 gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov Downloadable Data The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. These data and related graphics (if available) are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such. The information contained in these data is dynamic and may change over time. The data are not better than the original sources from which they were derived. It is the responsibility of the data user to use the data appropriately and consistent within the limitations of geospatial data in general and these data in particular. Any related graphics (if available) are intended to aid the data user in acquiring relevant data; it is not approriate to use the related graphics as data. The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of these data. It is strongly recommended that these data are directly acquired from an U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service servers and not indirectly through other sources which may have changed the data in some way. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the utility of the data on another system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data. It is also strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata file associated with these data. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this metadata report does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U. S. Department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey and National Park Service. HTML http://www.usgs.gov/core_science_systems/csas/vip/parks/gate.html Internet Access None 20070627 20100526 USGS/CSS/Core Science Analytics and Synthesis USGS-NPS Vegetation Characterization Program Coordinator mailing and physical address

Denver Federal Center, Building 810, MS 302

Denver Colorado 80225 (303) 202-4220 303-202-4219 gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001.1-1999 http://www.usgs.gov/core_science_systems/csas/metadata/index.html