MODELING THE POTENTIAL VEGETATION LOCATIONS OF MESIC HARDWOOD FORESTS IN THE BOXLEY VALLEY AREA OF THE BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER, ARKANSAS

The Vegetation Characterization Program is a cooperative effort by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Park Service to map vegetation communities in national park units. The USGS-Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center is currently mapping the Buffalo National River in northern Arkansas under this program. Using information gathered from this project, scientists at the USGS Mid-Continent Geographic Science Center are developing modeling techniques to help automate the mapping of potential locations of selected vegetation communities in this area. Rule sets characterizing potential vegetation communities are being developed using published reports, project literature, and input from ecologists. These rule sets will be used to create geospatial models that can be used to generate the geographic locations of these potential vegetation communities. Specifically, the modeling of the Mesic Hardwood Forests (Mesic Oak-Hardwood Forest and the Ozark Rich Beech-Mixed Hardwood Forest) in the Boxley Valley area of the upper portions of the Buffalo National River are illustrated in this poster.

Reference Cited:

“Vegetation Classification at Buffalo National River, Arkansas”, NatureServe, August 2008.