Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site: vegetation classification and mapping, a report for the Southern Plains Network

Abstract

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site (BEOL) was established in 1960 to preserve and commemorate an early trading post site located along the Santa Fe Trail on the banks of the Arkansas River in what is now southeastern Colorado. The BEOL vegetation mapping project was initiated in 2005 by the NPS Southern Plains Network. All stages of the project were carried out by biologists from the Colorado Natural Heritage Program, with some assistance from BEOL park staff. Using U.S. National Vegetation Classification standards, plant communities within the park were identified and sampled in the summer of 2005. Over the following winter, this information was used to define the vegetation types present at BEOL. The vegetation classification includes locally based descriptions of the vegetation types and a dichotomous field key to the types. The documented locations of these types were also used to inform the photo interpretation and mapping process. In the summer of 2006, accuracy assessment plots were collected at BEOL. These randomly selected points were used to give a measure of accuracy to the map. This analysis was completed late in 2006 and was used as a basis for minor revisions to the final map.