With natural resource conservation being such a hot topic, it is important to be able to inform and educate the public about invasive species dispersion and impacts. To assist with such efforts, the Vilas County Mapping Department has teamed with the Invasive Species Coordinator to help create effective teaching and reference materials that can be updated in a timely manner using GPS and other techniques. Examples of procedures and products will be showcased, as well as other invasive species issues and initiatives which illustrate departmental cooperation and creative funding.
2. Partnerships
Departments
Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D)
Regional Groups
Equipment
Pen/Paper
Handheld GPS
ArcPad
ArcGIS
Personal Mobile Devices?
3. Find a usable coordinate format
Create a feature class from the XY table
Play connect-the-dots using point attributes
4. Objective: To quantify the extent of garlic mustard
growing in the heart of town and identify on whose
lands it was growing.
Field mapping equipment:
Handheld basic GPS receiver
Paper & pen to record starting and ending waypoint for
each polygon
Method:
Collected polygon points around each patch
Requested map showing patch sizes and parcel lines
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7. Objective: To determine total miles of SK along county
roadway ROW and evaluate potential for bio-control
implementation
Field mapping equipment:
Handheld basic GPS receiver
Paper & pen to record stop and start waypoint numbers
for each
Method:
Collected via “windshield” survey
Requested map highlighting ROW infestations
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9. Objective:
Evaluate selected private forest lands for presence of
invasive plants
To increase invasives awareness by landowners
Project partners:
Local RC&D provided funding
Vilas County provided employment services for field
technician
Conserve School provided housing for technician
WHIP (weed co-op) provided Trimble unit
Mapping Dept. programmed Trimble
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12. Objective: Survey all county roads ROW for presence
of invasive plants in advance of developing ROW
invasive species management plans for Highway
Commissioners
Project partners:
Local RC&D provided funding and employment services
to hire two LTEs
WHIP providing use of two Trimble units and oversight
of LTEs
Mapping Depts. programmed Trimble units
13. Species [name list], Notes [text]
WHIP Roadside Invasives Survey WHIP Roadside Invasives Survey
AREA Collection LINE Collection
Species Species
WHIP Roadside Invasives Survey
Notes Notes
POINT Collection
Species
Approx Woody Species Plant Count
Approx Non-Woody Species Area (ft2)
Notes
Count [<10, 10-50, >50], Area [<50, 50-500, >500]
14. Objective: Survey 70 shoreline miles of Eagle river chained
lakes for presence of PL plants to evaluate need for bio-
control project
Project partners:
Chain of Lakes Association volunteers
Vilas Mapping Dept.
Method:
Volunteer spotters collected GPS coordinates and plant
counts during 2011 PL bloom season
Mapping Dept produced map
Bio-control program now underway
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21. Department visibility
Consistent collection procedures
One-stop data storage
Local data sharing
Regional data sharing
Enhanced products
Public Awareness/Engagement
Notes de l'éditeur
Phones - Future technique? - Allows public to get involved - Pictures - Waypoints - Tracks
Creating data without importing shapefilesWhen working with others, it’s important to find a usable coordinate format (decimal degrees)Excel can be used to convert non-standardized text to coordinates*click*Create a feature class from the XY table Using ArcCatalog, right-click on table and choose to create a feature class from an XY table Define the projection as that of GPS unit, then reproject*click*Play connect-the-dots using the point attributes May be better ways This way is pretty simple when working with smaller datasets
AcreageSquare Feet
Calculate infestation area, pinpoint individual plantsDetermine parties responsible for treatment*click*Devise a treatment/prevention plan
Road segmentsTotal Length
First time working with Trimble unit, data not formatted very well
Identify study areasSpatial recognition of study surface area
Detailed close-up of study areaCollected invasive dataPoint, Lines and Polygons
Created shapefiles with necessary fieldsSet up GPS collector forms using ArcPad Area and line datasets have two data fields available -(expound on values)-*click*Point datasets add an additional two fields -(expound on values)-Once a feature has been created, the input box pops up and asks for informationPre-defined entries speed up data collection and ensure data consistency
Parcels identified based on proximity to plant observations*click*Parcels can be joined with attributes from the nearest observation pointTargeted mailings can be carried out, complete with detailed, parcel-specific observations
Can do more than just terrestrial invasivesHelps with treatment planningPresent for funding proposalsData classified, acreage calculated Determine amount of herbecide used Pinpoint application sites
Presentation piece created for all the different speciesUsed to give a large-format overview of species distributionHot-spots and watch areas clearly identified
Maps created in printer-friendly, universal formatsSimple and easy-to-understandEasy to distribute electronically or in mailings*click*Scalable for media consumptionFurther-generalized map for newspaper print/inline web graphicIncrease visibility of department