Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory, Kansas Biological Survey USGS/CSS/BIP/Center for Biological Informatics 20100630 vector digital data http://www1.usgs.gov/vip/home/homegeodata.zip doi:10.5066/F7H41PDP Homestead National Monument (HOME) encompasses 184 acres in Gage County, west of Beatrice, Nebraska. This unique site hosts the oldest prairie restoration in the National Park system, and the second-oldest tallgrass prairie restoration known. This park unit also has a small remnant of native tallgrass prairie and remnants of bur-oak forest. The park also provides significant cultural resources, with historic buildings and a Heritage Center devoted to the history of homesteading. To better understand the distribution of the plant assemblages located on these sites, the NPS Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network started a vegetation mapping and classification effort at HOME in 2007. A three-year program was initiated to complete the task of mapping and classifying the vegetation at HOME. The Kansas Biological Survey (KBS) in conjunction with NatureServe developed a vegetation classification using the National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) and produced a digital vegetation map. To classify the vegetation, 17 representative plots located throughout the approximately 1,725 acre project area (parks + environs) were sampled during the summer of 2008. Additional data were obtained from vegetation plots sampled by the Inventory & Monitoring program in 2007. Analysis of the plot data by KBS produced six distinct plant associations and alliances. Two of the communities, encompassing the upland and lowland restored tallgrass prairie area, were unique to HOME (i.e., Park Specials). Descriptions and a field key for all plant communities of HOME are included in this report. To produce the digital map, a combination of digital ortho-imagery acquired by the Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program and by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency's Aerial Photography Field Office, and Global Positioning System (GPS) referenced ground data were used to interpret the complex patterns of vegetation and land-use. Upon completion, ten map units (six vegetated and four land-use) were developed and directly matched to corresponding plant associations and land-use classes. All of the interpreted and remotely sensed data were converted to Geographic Information System (GIS) databases using ArcGIS software. Draft maps were printed, field tested, reviewed and revised. Twelve accuracy assessment (AA) data points were collected in 2009 by KBS and used to determine the map's accuracy. The accuracy assessment revealed an overall thematic accuracy of 100%. Common to all vegetation mapping program projects, the three major components of the HOME Vegetation Mapping Project are vegetation classification, vegetation mapping, and map accuracy assessment. In this report we discuss each of these fundamental components in detail. Map Class Common Names: 3-Cropfields 4-Developed Land 5-Successional Forest 6-Bur Oak Woodland 7-Native Tallgrass Prairie 8-Lowland Restored Prairie 9-Roadways 10-Ponds/Water Bodies 11-Smooth Brome 12-Upland Restored Prairie The National Vegetation Mapping Program is an interagency initiative established to inventory, classify, describe, and map vegetation in National Park units and other areas across the United States. It is administered by the USGS Center for Biological Informatics and the NPS Natural Resources Information Division, and provides baseline vegetation information to the NPS Inventory and Monitoring Program. The shapefile was imported into a geodatabase by the USGS/CSS/BIP/Center for Biological Informatics. 201006 ground condition Complete None planned Homestead National Monument of America and environs -96.852498 -96.812337 40.300497 40.276936 None vegetation association vegetation classification National Park Service vegetation map vegetation alliance vegetation formation None Homestead National Monument Nebraska Gage County None Standardized National Vegetation Classification System vegetation classification alliance community association Kingdom Plantae None None Kelly Kindscher Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory, Kansas Biological Survey Associate Scientist mailing and physical address

2101 Constant Ave.

Lawrence Kansas 66047 USA (785) 864-1529 (785) 864-1537 kindscher@ku.edu Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.3000 The 2009 accuracy assessment effort yielded 12 points that were distributed throughout HOME; none were sampled in the environs due to access constraints. During analysis of the AA points, a GIS point file was created from the AA point coordinates recorded in the field. These were then overlaid on the vegetation map and a comparison of the final AA field call versus the vegetation polygon label was conducted. Examination of the final error matrix shows that there was no confusion between map units, as the accuracy assessment resulted in 100% accuracy. This high level of accuracy is likely due to the small size of HOME which allowed thorough sampling during the vegetation mapping stage. Unknown Unknown Dataset copied. \\Franklin\D\NPSProject\Tallgrass\Data\GIS\TallgrassPrairie013110_new2KD.mdb 20100330 Dataset copied. \\FRANKLIN\D$\NPSProject\Tallgrass\Data\GIS\TallgrassPrairie013110_new2KD.mdb 20100518 Metadata imported. C:\DOCUME~1\kars\LOCALS~1\Temp\xml2AA.tmp 20100920 Metadata imported. C:\DOCUME~1\kars\LOCALS~1\Temp\xml9F3.tmp 20100927 Metadata imported. C:\Users\kars\AppData\Local\Temp\xml3ADC.tmp 20110413 Metadata imported. D:\Projects\NPS\WorkingFiles\Veg_Poly_old.shp.xml 20110414 The shapefile was imported into a geodatabase by the USGS/CSS/BIP/Center for Biological Informatics. 201105 Metadata imported. 201105 Vector G-polygon 60 Universal Transverse Mercator 14 0.999600 -99.000000 0.000000 500000.000000 0.000000 coordinate pair 0.000100 0.000100 meters North American Datum of 1983 Geodetic Reference System 80 6378137.000000 298.257222 HOME_VegPolys Feature class attribute table National Park Service OBJECTID Internal feature number. ESRI Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated. SHAPE Feature geometry. ESRI Coordinates defining the features. Poly_ID Unique identifier for each polygon NPS Unique plot code. MapUnit_ID Code used to represent the Map Unit NPS Map unit code. MapUnit_Name Full Map Unit name NPS Map unit association common name. X_Centroid X Coordinate (UTM Easting) of the centroid of the polygon NPS Easting coordinate. Y_Centroid Y Coordinate (UTM Northing) of the centroid of the polygon NPS Northing coordinate. Acres Area (unknown units) ESRI Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. Hectares Perimeter (unknown units) ESRI Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. Shape_Length Length of feature in internal units. ESRI Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. SHAPE_Area Area of feature in internal units squared. ESRI Positive real numbers that are automatically generated. rc_VegPolys_tVegMapInfo Defines relationship between Veg polygons and basic vegetation attributes National Park Service 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/home.html Internet Access None 20110414 20110531 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