Field Plots Metadata

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Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Data_Organization_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Entity_and_Attribute_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: New York Natural Heritage Program

Publication_Date: 20070630

Title:

Gateway National Recreation Area Vegetation Mapping Project - Field Plot Points

Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

Online_Linkage: <http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/ftp/vegmapping/gate/gateplot.zip>

Description:

Abstract:

Location of vegetation sampling plots used to collect data for vegetation classification and mapping at Gateway National Recreation Area.

Purpose:

To identify locations of plots from which data was collected to use in the classification and mapping efforts at Gateway National Recreation Area.

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Single_Date/Time:

Calendar_Date: 20070630

Currentness_Reference: ground condition

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent: Gateway National Recreation Area and environs

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -74.141558

East_Bounding_Coordinate: -73.815313

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.658418

South_Bounding_Coordinate: 40.427225

Local_Bounding_Coordinates:

Left_Bounding_Coordinate: 572815.000000

Right_Bounding_Coordinate: 600152.000000

Bottom_Bounding_Coordinate: 4475846.000000

Top_Bounding_Coordinate: 4501196.000000

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: none

Theme_Keyword: plot

Theme_Keyword: vegetation

Theme_Keyword: community classification

Theme_Keyword: vegetation association map

Theme_Keyword: National Park Service

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: none

Place_Keyword: Gateway National Recreation Area

Place_Keyword: New York

Place_Keyword: New Jersey

Taxonomy:

Keywords/Taxon:

Taxonomic_Keyword_Thesaurus: None

Taxonomic_Keywords: Standardized National Vegetation Classification System

Taxonomic_Keywords: vegetation classification

Taxonomic_Keywords: alliance

Taxonomic_Keywords: community association

Taxonomic_Classification:

Taxon_Rank_Name: Kingdom

Taxon_Rank_Value: Plantae

Access_Constraints: none

Use_Constraints: none

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: New York Natural Heritage Program

Contact_Person: Greg Edinger

Contact_Position: Chief Ecologist

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 625 Broadway, 5th floor

City: Albany

State_or_Province: New York

Postal_Code: 12233-4757

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (518) 402-8947

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (518) 402-8925

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gjedinge@gw.dec.state.ny.us

Browse_Graphic:

Browse_Graphic_File_Name: <http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/gate/images/gateplots.pdf>

Browse_Graphic_File_Description: Locations of vegetation plots; low resolution for web browsing.

Browse_Graphic_File_Type: PDF

Data_Set_Credit: New York Natural Heritage Program

Native_Data_Set_Environment:

Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.2.2.1350

Native_Dataset_Format: Shapefile

Data_Quality_Information:

Logical_Consistency_Report: ESRI point geometry

Completeness_Report:

Each plot is represented by one point. All points fall within the mapped polygons.

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

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 × 20 m plots in forests and woodlands, 10 m × 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.

Process_Date: 20040930

Process_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: New York Natural Heritage Program

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: 625 Broadway, 5th floor

City: Albany

State_or_Province: New York

Postal_Code: 12233-4757

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (518) 402-8947

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: (518) 402-8925

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gjedinge@gw.dec.state.ny.us

Spatial_Data_Organization_Information:

Direct_Spatial_Reference_Method: Vector

Point_and_Vector_Object_Information:

SDTS_Terms_Description:

SDTS_Point_and_Vector_Object_Type: Entity point

Point_and_Vector_Object_Count: 177

ESRI_Terms_Description:

ESRI_Feature_Type: Simple

ESRI_Topology: Simple

ESRI_Feature_Geometry: Point

ESRI_Topology: FALSE

ESRI_Feature_Count: 177

Spatial_Index: FALSE

Linear_Referencing: FALSE

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Planar:

Grid_Coordinate_System:

Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator

Universal_Transverse_Mercator:

UTM_Zone_Number: 18

Transverse_Mercator:

Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.999600

Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -75.000000

Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.000000

False_Easting: 500000.000000

False_Northing: 0.000000

Planar_Coordinate_Information:

Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair

Coordinate_Representation:

Abscissa_Resolution: 0.000001

Ordinate_Resolution: 0.000001

Planar_Distance_Units: meters

Geodetic_Model:

Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983

Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80

Semi-major_Axis: 6378137.000000

Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257222

Coordinate_System_Name:

Geographic_Coordinate_System_Name: GCS_North_American_1983

Projected_Coordinate_System_Name: NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_18N

Entity_and_Attribute_Information:

Detailed_Description:

Entity_Type:

Entity_Type_Label: GATE_veg_plots

Entity_Type_Definition: attributes from shapefile table

Entity_Type_Definition_Source: Pennyslvania Natural Heritage Program

Entity_Type_Type: Feature Class

Entity_Type_Count: 177

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: FID

Attribute_Definition: Internal feature number.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain:

Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: Shape

Attribute_Definition: Feature geometry.

Attribute_Definition_Source: ESRI

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain: Coordinates defining the features.

Attribute:

Attribute_Label: PLOT_CODE

Attribute_Definition: plot code

Attribute_Definition_Source: NPS four letter park code plus unique number

Attribute_Domain_Values:

Unrepresentable_Domain: NPS four letter park code plus unique number

Attribute_Type: String

Attribute_Width: 9

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: USGS/CSS/Core Science Analytics and Synthesis

Contact_Person: USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Room 8000, MS 302

City: Denver

State_or_Province: Colorado

Postal_Code: 80225

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (303) 202-4220

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 303-202-4219

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov

Resource_Description: Downloadable Data

Distribution_Liability:

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.

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: HTML

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name: <http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/gate/index.html>

Access_Instructions: Internet Access

Fees: None

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20070627

Metadata_Review_Date: 20100526

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: USGS/CSS/Core Science Analytics and Synthesis

Contact_Person: USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program Coordinator

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: mailing and physical address

Address: Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Room 8000, MS 302

City: Denver

State_or_Province: Colorado

Postal_Code: 80225

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (303) 202-4220

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 303-202-4219

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: gs-b-npsveg@usgs.gov

Metadata_Standard_Name:

FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001.1-1999

Metadata_Extensions:

Online_Linkage:

<http://www.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt/community/fgdc_metadata/255>