Multi-institutional collaborative program.

3. Multi-institutional collaborative program. • Established in 1988 to document the composition and status of natural vegetation of the Carolinas. • Provides data, data services, software development and analysis to EEP and its contractors.

4. Restoration targets • Protocols and tools • Data management • Data analysis • Training

5. Document reference conditions Derive restoration targets Design site-specific restoration plan Implement the plan Monitor change and assess success Employ adaptive management CVS provides improved reference data, target design tools, monitoring protocols, data management and analysis, and training.

7. Boot camp for botanists; Woodstock for botanists; Extreme botany • Access to sites rarely available • Unparalleled training • Networking opportunities • Free lodging and free t-shirt • Send email to peet@unc.eduor join the list at http://cvs.bio.unc.edu • June 19-26 (NC Piedmont), July 15-22 (SC coast)

8. Student research projects • Broad-scale collaboration and data mining • Targeted systems • Piedmont rivers • Mountain bogs • Other research projects

9. National & International Context • U.S. National Vegetation Classification http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/ • Ecological Society of America Vegetation Panel – Standards for associations and alliances of the NVC. http://www.bio.unc.edu/faculty/peet/pubs/EcoMonogr79;173.pdf • Ecological Society of America Vegetation Panel – Guidelines for recording and classifying vegetation. http://www.esa.org/vegweb/docFiles/ESA_Guidelines_Version_5.2.pdf • Federal Geographic Data Committee, Vegetation Subcommittee – Federal standards http://cvs.bio.unc.edu/FGDCVegetationStandard-V2-2008.pdf • VegBankhttp://vegbank.org

10. www.vegbank.org

11. CVS Vision • The Carolina vegetation database, available on the web • Revision and documentation of the National Vegetation Classification • Tools for identification and prediction of existing and potential vegetation • Synthesis and reference information on the vegetation of the Carolinas

12. Move from crude species lists to a plot database and quantitative community descriptions. • EEP contractors can use these data to establish site-specific restoration targets. • Phase 1: National Vegetation Classification type descriptions. • Phase 2: Dynamically generated targets. • Growers can predict material needs. • EEP can anticipate significantly higher success.

13. Consistent methodology • Appropriate for most vegetation types • FGDC compliant and broadly compatible • Flexible in intensity and time commitment • Easy to resample • Total floristics &/or tree population structure • Major site variables

14. 5 sampling levels provide flexibility plus consistency. • Available resources include manuals, datasets, and data entry tools. • Applicable for multiple purposes and organizations

15. Level 1: Inventory of planted stems • Level 2: Inventory of all woody stems • Level 3: Cover of dominants and optional stem inventory • Level 4: Full floristics • Level 5: Full floristics, by module, across scales.

16. For restoration areas with planted stems. • The primary purpose is to document installation and to monitor survival and growth of installed plants.

17. For restoration areas. • Plots allow accurate and rapid assessment of the overall status and trajectory of woody-plant restoration on a site.

18. Documents leaf area cover of common species • Conforms to the FGDC standard for plots used to classify vegetation to an NVC association • Used to assess vegetation successional status as well as the presence and abundance of undesirable taxa

19. Similar to level 3, but more • Cover values are determined for all plant species • Additional environmental data are collected • Plots conform to the FGDC standards for plots used to revise the NVC.

22. The CVS data management system insures accurate data collection and reporting • The CVS data-entry tool allows efficient data entry with automatic error checking • Reports and plot statistics can be automatically generated • The archived data are used in various analyses and to generate datasheets for subsequent monitoring

23. Demonstrations today and tomorrow

24. Contractors use the tool to digitize & organize data. • Centralizes the entry process into one place • Can calculate number of required plots for a project • Efficient data entry at all CVS Levels: • Forms mimic paper datasheets • Lookup data (species, locations) quickly • Avoid redundant typing. • Possible errors are flagged for resolution • Reports summarize final data • Download plots from our website for monitoring • New datasheets printed for future monitoring SAVES TIME & MONEY, DELIVERS HIGHER QUALITY DATA!

26. Data automatically checked for errors as entered.

29. You don't have to retype data that is known from last year. The cursor stops only on the few fields with solid borders.

30. CVS reports • Datasheets for monitoring • Survival & growth of planted stems • Direction of compositional change • Rate of compositional change • Problems needing attention (e.g., stem mortality, exotic species) • The data and services provided by CVS improve the likelihood that the monitored vegetation is developing towards a pre-defined reference condition.

31. Data summarized with click of a button • Multiple configuration options available • Reports based on a single year or multiple years • Reports based on a single project or multiple projects

32. Project Summary Highlights year of project failing to meet requirements! Matrix of plots, species, and number of stems (This page shows 3 of 10 to 12 worksheets in the Report) Summary of Stem Vigor

35. Contractors receive hands-on training in data collection and management at annual workshops • Annual “Pulse” events provide intensive training in sampling protocols and North Carolina’s plant species and vegetation.