Vegetation monitoring and assessment plan for Everglades restoration

Restoration Coordination and Verification (RECOVER) is a system-wide program of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), designed to organize and provide the highest quality scientific and technical support during the implementation of the CERP.  It is the role of RECOVER to ensure that science continues to guide implementation of CERP.  To accomplish this RECOVER has developed a system-wide Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP), which is designed to document how well the CERP is performing in meeting its objectives for ecosystem restoration.  One component of the MAP will involve vegetation mapping from aerial photography as a tool to monitor changes in the spatial extent, pattern, and composition of plant communities within the Everglades landscape. 

The objective of this work is to produce a spatially and thematically accurate vegetation map of those areas of the remnant Everglades where CERP is expected to affect change.  These areas include the Lake Okeechobee littoral zone, Corbett & Pal Mar Natural Areas, Water Conservation Areas, Everglades National Park, South-eastern coastal wetlands, and Big Cypress National Preserve.  Vegetation communities are being mapped with a ¼ hectare minimum mapping grid unit from 1:24,000 scale color infrared aerial photography.  Each distinct vegetation community is designated according to the Vegetation Classification System for South Florida Natural Areas, the result of a multi-agency effort to create a consistent classification scheme.