FLORIDA GEOGRAPHIC DATA LIBRARY DOCUMENTATION
TITLE: FLORIDA LAND COVER
Geodataset Name: GAP_LCOV Geodataset Type: GRID Geodataset Feature: POLYGON
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
Land Cover map for the state of Florida derived from the classification of Landsat TM satellite imagery. The image is an 8-bit color image which employs a color palette to ensure uniform colors throughout a particular series. That is to say, if a color is defined as having a particular RGB value, for all images within that series, the RGB value is the same. The image is intended for use as an image backdrop, planning purposes, and for feature identification for various conservation or other purposes.
DATA SOURCE(S): Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit (FCFWRU) SCALE OF ORIGINAL SOURCE MAPS: N/A DATE OF AUTOMATION OR SOURCE: 1993-1994 GEODATASET EXTENT: State of FloridaFEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES:
Datafile Name: GAP_LCOV.DBF ITEM NAME WIDTH TYPE PRECISION VALUE 4 BINARY - COUNT 4 BINARY - RED 12 FLOATING 3 GREEN 12 FLOATING 3 BLUE 12 FLOATING 3 CLASS_NAMES 96 CHARACTER 0
FEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES CODES AND VALUES:
Item Item Description
VALUE Numerical value describing the land cover.
0 Background: This class represents marine areas and land
outside of the classification.
1 Open water: All fresh water bodies without vegetation or with
submerged aquatic species and no emergents.
2 Tropical Hardwood Hammock Formation: This class represents the
species rich hardwood hammocks of south Florida. Two major
vegetation alliances, coastal and interior hardwood hammocks,
are included in this formation.
3 Semi-deciduous Tropical/Subtropical Swamp Forest: This class
represents semi-deciduous forested swamps of south Florida. In
large strand swamps, such as, Fakahatchee Strand dominant
canopy species include baldcypress (Taxodium distichum), royal
palm (Roystonea elata), laurel oak (Quercus laurifolia), and
red maple (Acer rubrum). Included within this class are
communities known as South Florida Bayhead Forest. These low
stature swamps are also referred to as bayhead forest and tree
island. They contain an assemblage of temperate and tropical
species including: Annona glabra, Magnolia virginiana, and
Persea palustris.
4 Xeric-Mesic Live Oak Ecological Complex: This complex is
predominantly live oak (Quercus virginiana) and sand live oak
(Quercus geminata) found in areas with hydrologic conditions
varying from mesic to xeric.
5 Mesic-Hydric Live Oak/ Sabal Palm Ecological Complex: This
class is generally a coastal live oak (Quercus virginiana) and
sabal palm (Sabal palmetto). It generally is found on mesic to
hydric sites. The hydric sites may be analogous to hydric
hammocks
6 Bay/Gum/Cypress Ecological Complex: This class represents
forested communities containing combinations of bay (Gordonia
lasianthus, Magnolia virginiana, Persea palustris), gum (Nyssa
spp.), and cypress (Taxodium spp.). Due the difficulty of
spectral differentiation of communities containing these
species a broad more general class was created. The order of
species in the class name does not represent the order of
dominance. (Leitman et al. 1983, Loftin 1998).
7 Loblolly Bay Forest: This class is dominated by Gordonia
lasianthus
8 Cajeput Forest Compositional Group: This class represents both
forest and woodland Melaleuca quinquenervia community types.
9 Mixed Mangrove Forest Formation: This formation is a catch all
for mangrove forest types containing the three mangrove
species in varying levels of dominance. The class generally
represents mangrove forest found inland of the fringe.
Dominance is generally shared by white and black mangrove with
occasional red mangrove.
10 Black Mangrove Forest: This forest is generally pure black
mangrove.
11 Red Mangrove Forest: This forest tends to found as patches
embedded in Mixed Mangrove Forest Formation, higher energy
islands, and forest fringes greater than 30 m wide.
12 Casuarina Compositional Complex: Casuarina forest and woodland
were combined in this class.
13 South Florida Slash Pine Forest: This is an exclusively south
Florida pine forest type. The forest is dominated by Pinus
elliottii var. densa and tends to be found on sand in the
northern part of it's range and limestone rock in the south
part. This forest tends to have reduced canopy coverage
compared to north Florida slash pine (Pinus elliottii var.
elliottii)
14 Sand Pine Forest: Forest dominated by sand pine (Pinus
clausa). No attempt was made to differentiate between Pinus
clausa var. clausa and Pinus clausa var. immuginata. These
forests are found on dry, sand ridges in the interior and
along the coast.
15 Mesic-Xeric Mixed Pine/Oak/Hickory Forest Ecological Complex:
This complex represents mesic to xeric mixed pine/oak/hickory
forest. The dominant species may include varying levels of
Pinus elliottii, P. palustris, P. taeda, Quercus falcata, Q.
hemisphaerica, Q. virginiana, Carya glabra, and C. tomentosa.
These species are not exclusive dominants for this class, but
they were observed frequently during ground-truthing
16 Mesic-Hydric Pine Forest Compositional Group: This class
represents multiple pine forest types. The variation found
among forest types is dependent on slightly varying moisture
conditions. The dominant pine type in the class tends to be
slash pine (Pinus elliottii var. elliottii) flatwoods. Classes
were combined because of the difficulty in differentiating
pine types from satellite data.
17 Swamp Forest Compositional Group: This class represents
deciduous and evergreen swamp forests of north and central
Florida. Classes were consolidated because LANDSAT satellite
data from phenologically varying times (leaf on vs. leaf off)
was not available. Leaf on or leaf off data were commonly
available for adjacent scenes. The resulting classifications
tended to consistently detect broad-leaved dominated swamp
forest, but not differentiate deciduous from evergreen. This
class may contain measurable, but not dominant amounts of
cypress (Taxodium spp.). The class may contain some of the
same species and species combinations as class 6
(Bay/Gum/Cypress Forest Ecological Complex). The
Bay/Gum/Cypress forest was treated as a separate class because
it is common to north Florida and was detectable using LANDSAT
data and our classification techniques. Contrast with class 7
Loblolly Bay forest, in which this type of evergreen swamp was
separable.
18 Cypress Forest Compositional Group: This class represents
cypress communities dominated by Taxodium ascendens and T.
distichum. These communities include cypress domes (T.
ascendens), and river and lake fringes (T. distichum).
Confusion associated with this class may include overlap with
pines and cypress/gum ponds within the pine flatwoods in which
they all occur.
19 Mixed Evergreen-Cold-deciduous Hardwood Forest: The mixed
evergreen/cold-deciduous forest varies in species composition
across northern Florida. The eastern component is dominated by
various oaks and hickory, including Quercus hemispherica, Q.
virginiana and Carya glabra. The western component is
dominated by beech (Fagus grandifolia) and southern magnolia
(Magnolia grandiflora). The community is known by various
names including, southern mesic hardwood forest and upland
hardwood forest.
20 Buttonwood Woodland: This class represents buttonwood
(Conocarpus erectus) woodland of south Florida. These
communities are usually found inland and adjacent to the
mangrove zone over marl soils or on exposed limestone rock.
21 Mixed Mangrove Woodland: The mixed mangrove woodlands in our
map are generally the result of hurricane Andrew in August
1992. The forest species are the same as the mixed mangrove
forest, but canopy coverage has been reduced to 25-60%.
22 Black Mangrove Woodland: Black mangrove (Avicennia germinans)
with canopy coverage 25-60%.
23 Red Mangrove Woodland: Red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) with
canopy coverage 25-60%.
24 Live Oak Woodland: Live oak (Quercus virginiana) woodlands are
usually found along the coast on sand or shell deposits. In
our map they can also occur as isolated patches within pasture
areas.
25 South Florida Slash Pine Woodland: This class represents open,
generally low stature south Florida slash pine (Pinus
elliottii var. densa) stands on marl, sand or rock. Understory
usually is graminoid and occasional dwarf cypress (Taxodium
ascendens) may be present.
26 Sandhill Ecological Complex: Sandhill ecosystems are
characterized by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), a few
xeriphytic oaks (Quercus incana, Q. geminata, Q. laevis), and
a wiregrass/sporobolus understory on sand. Tree cover is
generally 25-60%.
27 Broad-leaved Evergreen and Mixed Evergeen/Cold-deciduous
Shrubland Compositional Group: This class serves as a catch-
all for many evergreen and mixed evergreen/cold-deciduous
shrub communities that were obviously present, but difficult
or impossible to differentiate. As it is used in this map this
class tends to be mesic to hydric. More specific classes (e.g.
Flooded/Saturated Broad-leaved Evergreen Shrubland Ecological
Complex, Dry Prairie, Gallberry/Saw Palmetto Shrubland, Dwarf
Mangrove) have been identified for this map and are treated as
subsets of this class within the vegetation classification
system.
28 Flooded/Saturated Broad-leaved Evergreen/Mixed Evergreen-Cold
deciduous Shrubland Compositional Group: This class represents
communities dominated by broad-leaved evergreen species.
Representative species include fetterbush (Lyonia lucida) in
north Florida and cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco) in south
Florida. This class also includes a freshwater variant of the
red mangrove dwarf shrubland. In freshwater areas red mangrove
(Rhizophora mangle) and cocoplum (C. icaco) are often found
together.
29 Dry Prairie Ecological Complex: In Florida dry prairies are
sparsely wooded savannas with dominance by a mosaic of saw
palmetto (Serenoa repens) and grasses (Aristida spp.,
Sporobolus spp., and Andropogon spp.)
30 Gallberry/Saw Palmetto Compositional Group: This class
represents shrub and graminoid communities found in
association with wet flatwoods. While similar to the dry
prairie class it tends to be wetter and have a greater
dominance by shrubs. Gallberry (Ilex glabra and I. coriacea),
fetterbush (Lyonia lucida), sweet pepperbush (Clethra
alnifolia), and titi (Cyrilla racemosa and Cliftonia
monophylla) are representative species. This community may be
an early phase of pine regeneration or it may have a more
permanent status (see Apalachicola National Forest for
examples).
31 Brazilian Pepper Shrubland: The exotic shrub Schinus
terebinthifolius dominates this community in dense,
monospecific stands. This community is generally found in
south Florida and along both coasts further north to central
Florida.
32 Dwarf Mangrove Ecological Complex: This complex represents
shrub mangroves, regardless of dominance by the three mangrove
species. The largest stands are found in south Florida in
areas with marl dominated soils and in areas with standing
freshwater near the coast. The community is also found in the
Indian River Lagoon.
33 Coastal Strand: This is a coastal dune, shrub dominated
community. Dominance in north Florida by saw palmetto (Serenoa
repens) and yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) is common. In
southern Florida, saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) remains common
and sea grape (Coccoloba uvifera) becomes a more prominent
community member.
34 Groundsel-tree/Marsh Elder Tidal Shrubland: The groundsel-tree
(Baccharis halimifolia)/Marsh-Elder (Borrichia frutescens) is
an open, coastal community found at slightly higher elevation
than the high salt marsh. It is often transitional to upland
communities, such as, Live Oak/Sabal Palm forest.
35 Xeric Scrubland: This class represents broad-leaved shrublands
on inland sand and coastal dune ridges. It is dominated by
various scrubby oaks and other xeriphytic species, such as,
Quercus chapmanii, Q. geminata, Q. inopina, Q. myrtifolia,
Ceratiola ericoides, and Lyonia ferruginea. Scattered sand
pine (Pinus clausa), longleaf pine (P.palustris), and slash
pine (rarely P. elliottii var. elliottii in the north and
commonly P. elliottii var. densa in the south) may be found in
the scrub.
36 St. Johns Wort Shrubland Compositional Group: These are shrub
communities often found in isolated, small, acid wetlands. St.
Johns Wort may cover the entire wetland or only inhabit the
fringe of deeper water bodies.
37 Flooded Cold-deciduous shrubland Ecological Complex: This
class represents shrub wetlands dominated by willow (Salix
spp.), buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), river birch
(Betula nigra), and/or hazel alder (Alnus serrulata). These
species share the same habitat in some but not all cases.
River birch and hazel alder are northern species, while willow
and buttonbush are found throughout the state. In some areas,
especially in south Florida, willow and buttonbush may inhabit
areas with high proportions of cattail (Typha spp.).
38 Saltwort/ Glasswort Ecological Complex: The Saltwort (Batis
maritima)/Glasswort (Salicornia spp.) complex represents
saltwort and/or glasswort. These communities vary
geographically from pure stands of either species to mixed
stands. The communities are found in association, but inland
of salt marsh in northern Florida. In south Florida they are
found on marl and limestone near the coast in association with
mangroves and buttonwood.
39 Graminiod Dry Prairie Ecological Complex: This class was
generally used to describe coastal graminoid communities found
on the landward side of dunes. Muhlenbergia spp., and
Eragrostis spp. are representative species.
40 Sea Oats Dune Grassland: Vegetated coastal dunes near beaches
are generally dominated by a cover of sea oats (Uniola
paniculata), other grasses (Panicum spp., Sporobolus spp),
forbs (Sesuvium portulacastrum), and vines (Ipomoea pes-
caprae).
41 Wiregrass Grassland: Wiregrass (Aristida spp.) communities are
repesented here. These grasslands may also contain significant
proportions of Sporobolus spp. which are spectrally
indistinguishable from Aristida spp.
42 Graminoid Emergent Marsh Compositional Group: This class
represents freshwater graminoid marshes that cannot be
distinguished to the specific level.
43 Sawgrass Marsh: Freshwater marshes dominated by sawgrass
(Cladium mariscus var. jamaicense). This community is found
throughout Florida. It is found most extensively in the
Everglades of south Florida. In the remainder of Florida it is
found in small isolated wetlands and at the mouths of many
rivers.
44 Spikerush Marsh: Freshwater marshes dominated by spikerush
(Eleocharis spp.). This community is found throughout Florida.
It is found most extensively in the Everglades of south
Florida, often in association with more open areas known as
wet prairies. In the remainder of Florida it is found in small
isolated wetlands.
45 Muhly Grass Marsh: Muhly prairies in south Florida are
dominated by Muhlenbergia filipes and are generally found on
marl soils with a relatively short hydroperiod. Muhlenbergia
spp. are also found on dry coastal sands and shells and may be
confused with marshes under dry conditions.
46 Cattail Marsh Compositional Group: This class represents
southern cattail (Typha domingensis) and common cattail (T.
latifolia). Southern cattail is found primarily in southern
Florida and common cattail in northern Florida. Both species
can be found together anywhere in the state.
47 Salt Marsh Ecological Complex: This class represents salt
water graminoid marshes that cannot be distinguished to the
specific level.
48 Sand Cordgrass Grassland: Sand cordgrass (Spartina bakeri)
tends to be found along the coast in the interface between
salt marsh and the adjacent upland. It also is found in
patches along rivers and in some inland upland sites.
49 Black needle Rush Marsh: This class represents black needle
rush (Juncus roemerianus). This is the most widespread of the
salt marsh communities.
50 Saltmarsh Cordgrass Marsh: This class represents saltmarsh
cordgrass marsh (Spartina alterniflora). This communities is
found most extensively in northern Florida.
51 Saltmeadow Cordgrass/Salt Grass Salt Marsh: Saltmeadow
Cordgrass (Spartina patens)/Salt Grass (Distichlis spicata)
Salt Marsh is a high salt marsh often containing Baccharis
halimifolia and Myrica cerifera shrubs.
52 Sparsely Wooded Wet Prairie Compositional Group: This
represents communities with a graminoid or forb wetland
understory and a sparse wooded overstory. The class may
include dwarf or tree size cypress (Taxodium ascendens), pine
(Pinus spp.), or other wetland adapted trees.
53 Dwarf Cypress Prairie: This class is prominent in south
Florida. It is dominated by graminoids (e.g. Muhlenbergia
filipes, Rhynchospora spp.) with a very sparse pond cypress
(Taxodium ascendens) shrub overstory.
54 Temperate Wet Prairie: These are wetland communties dominated
by graminoids, forbs and hydrophyllic species.
55 Maidencane Marsh: Maidencane (Panicum hemitomon) marsh is
represented by this class. The community is found throughout
Florida as a lake fringing marsh and in south Florida in
prominent large patches in the Everglades. The community may
not be detected when found around lakes when the marsh is to
narrow.
56 Forb Emergent Marsh: This class represents emergent marsh
containing flag species, such as Pontederia cordata,
Sagittaria lancifolia, and Thalia geniculata.
57 Water lily or Floating Leaved Vegetation: This class
represents water lily and floating leaves species such as,
Eichhornia crassipes, Hydrocotyle spp., Nuphar luteum,
Nymphaea odorata, and Nymphoides aquatica. While different
ecologically, the water lilies (Nuphar luteum, Nymphaea
odorata, and Nymphoides aquatica) and floating leaved species
(Eichhornia crassipes and Hydrocotyle spp.) are difficult to
distinguish spectrally due to the high water content of their
respective environments. Nevertheless, large patches will tend
to be water lily dominated, while small patches and fringing
communities will be dominated by floating leaved species.
58 Periphyton: This class represents periphyton, an aggregate of
calcareous algae. It covers the greatest area and is most
obvious in south Florida.
59 Sand, Beach: This class represents unvegetated sand and beach.
60 Bare soil/Clearcut: Disturbed sites and recent clearcuts
generally have a large proportion of area in exposed sand.
They appear similar spectrally and are difficult to
differentiate. As a result, some agricultural fields and
recently developed residential sites may be confused with
clearcuts.
61 Pavement, Roadside: As one might expect these are
transportation corridors including both the pavement and
associated cultivated roadside.
62 Urban: This class represents predominantly commercial urban
areas.
63 Urban Residential: Urban residential is as it seems.
64 Urban Open/Others: This class represents the open areas and
unknown urban uses.
65 Agriculture: Row crops, farm roads, and structures are found
under this class.
66 Pasture/Grassland/Agriculture: This class represents pasture,
grassland, and some agriculture. The difficulty of
differentiating grassland and some forms of agriculture (e.g.
hay) from pasture using spectral data has resulted in this
lumped class. The class appears to be primarily pasture,
although some overlap with sandhill and other open, graminoid
type communities may have occurred.
67 Ag/Groves/Ornamental: This class represents orchards (e.g.
pecan, peach, pear) and groves (e.g. Citrus).
68 Ag/Confined Feeding Operation/ Specialty Farms: This
represents cattle feetlots and dairy farms.
69 Extractive: This class represents mined areas, including
phosphate and sand mines.
70 Recreation
71 Cloud: Yes, it happens clouds creep into a coverage and cannot
be removed.
COUNT Number of cells corresponding to value
RED The spectral value which determines the display color for a value.
GREEN The spectral value which determines the display color for a value.
BLUE The spectral value which determines the display color for a value.
CLASS_NAMES The common name for each type of landcover.
USER NOTES:
The Florida Gap Project is mandated by the National Gap Program, USGS/BRD to use the recently enacted United States National Vegetation Classification System (NVCS) as the classification for its vegetation map of the state of Florida. The NVCS is based on a hierarchical structure with vegetation physiognomic and floristic elements. The competing needs of producing a map with a high classification resolution and the use of landcover data from the LANDSAT satellite system has resulted in the development of a modified vegetation classification for the state based on the NVCS classification. Vegetation was classified to the Alliance level or to a higher aggregation of Alliances when discrimination to the Alliance level was not reliable. Various factors can limit the type and content of a classification. For example, due to cloud cover and cost, the Florida Gap Project often used LANDSAT data from a single date for each scene. Adjacent scenes often were from seasonally different dates, resulting in spring/summer phenology for one scene and fall/winter phenology for another. Thus, reliable classification of deciduous versus evergreen dominated vegetation types was reduced.
FGDL QUALITY ASSURANCE STATUS:
The GeoPlan Center, using ERDAS Imagine: (1) Reprojected the image to Albers HPGN (see "Map Projection Parameters" below). (2) Subset (clipped) the image to each of Florida's 67 counties. (3) Exported each county image to grid.
REFERENCES: