Welcome to the Southern Nonnative Invasive Plant data Extraction Tool (SNIPET)
INTRODUCTION
Studies suggest that the southern United States is an area of primary concern with regards to the spread of nonnative invasive plant species. Recent data show that species such as Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and Nepalese browntop (Microstegium vimineum) are invading forests and displacing native species throughout the southern United States. Monitoring on large spatial scales is among the most important mechanisms for the detection and prevention of the spread of nonnative species. Better assessments of on-going biological invasions are a primary research priority in the Southeast. As one method for addressing this need, the USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS), in partnership with State forestry agencies across the South, initiated a southern region survey of 33 invasive plant taxa in 2001 on all forest ownerships as part of the SRS Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program. (Note – in calendar year 2012 SRS-FIA will expand from the current “Watch List” of 33 taxa to a list containing 56 different taxa.) The survey of invasive plant species was added to the traditional timber resource surveys that have been underway since the 1930's. The Nonnative Invasive Plant Species (NNIPS) selected for survey are regionally recognized exotic pest plants known to invade interior forest stands and forest edges, canopy gaps and stream-sides. FIA collects presence information and estimates of cover for invasive trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, canes, ferns and forbs. The Southern Invasive Plant Indicator Program is tasked with monitoring and reporting on plant invasions within southern forests, along with developing tools to detect emerging invasions and potentially problematic invasive plant populations.
Southern Nonnative Invasive Plant data Extraction Tool (SNIPET)
The Southern Nonnative Invasive Plant Data Extraction Tool or SNIPET is a redesign of the original Southern FIA Nonnative Invasive data tool and has been updated with data processed with the most current version of the National Information Management System (NIMS). SNIPET allows for users to gain direct access to the nonnative invasive plant (NNIP) data that has been collected since 2001 by the SRS-FIA program. Users can access individual records of NNIP data through a variety of avenues of interest; 1) for an individual state or 2) and individual county, 3) by taxa, 4) by life form, or specific survey years.
SNIPET utilizes a hierarchical approach whereby a user can “drill down” through individual-based decisions in order to retrieve NNIP records for their specific question and/or geographic area of interest simply by clicking on highlighted variables of interest.
For example, if you are interested in all invasive trees that occurred on the most recent remeasure of FIA plots in Tennessee, simply find the invasive tree table
and click on “Tennessee” for the most recent set of data (2005-2009 or Evaluation Group 472009).
The result will provide a table listing the number of forested subplots in the sample and the number of subplots on which each species of invasive tree was observed for each county within Tennessee.
NOTE: Each invasive plant species nomenclature is a link to the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service PLANTS Database description.
Users can then access individual database records by clicking on the observations for an individual county or the total for a given species.
By clicking on the number 369 in the above screenshot, the user will be presented with each observation of Tree of Heaven in Tennessee between the years of 2005 and 2009 along with the Control Numbers that allow for the NNIP data to be joined/merged with traditional FIA Phase 2 data.
The variables accessible via SNIPET are:
STATECD
EVAL GROUP
COUNTYCD
PLOT
SUBPLOT
SPECIES
FIELD GUIDE VERSION
PCT_COVERAGE_CD
PCT_COVERAGE_LITERAL
UNADJ_PROP_COVER
CONTROL NUMBER
VARIABLE DEFINITIONS
| STATECD | State code. Bureau of the Census Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) two-digit code for each State. |
| EVAL GROUP | Evaluation group. An evaluation group identifies the evaluations that were used in producing a core set of tables. In some cases one evaluation will be used for area and volume and another evaluation for growth, removals and mortality. Users can obtain the correct value of this attribute to select the appropriate State and year of interest. |
| COUNTYCD | County code. The identification number for a county, parish, watershed, borough, or similar governmental unit in a State. FIPS codes from the Bureau of the Census are used. |
| PLOT | Phase 2 plot number. An identifier for a plot. Along with STATECD, INVYR, UNITCD, COUNTYCD and/or some other combinations of variables, PLOT may be used to uniquely identify a plot. |
| SUBPLOT | Subplot number. The number assigned to the subplot. The national plot design (PLOT.DESIGNCD=1) has subplot number values of 1 through 4. Other plot designs have various subplot number values. See PLOT.DESIGNCD and appendix B for information about plot designs. For more explanation about SUBP, contact the appropriate FIA unit. |
| SPECIES | Species code. An FIA plant species code. |
| FIELD GUIDE VERSION | Manual (field guide) version number. Version number of the Field Guide used to describe procedures for collecting data on the plot The National FIA Field Guide began with Version 1.0; therefore data taken using the National Field procedures will have PLOT.MANUAL ≥ 1.0. Data taken according to field instructions prior to the use of the National Field Guide have PLOT.MANUAL < 1.0. |
| PCT_COVERAGE_CD | Actual code recorded, per field guide used at the time of the visit. |
| PCT_COVERAGE_LITERAL | Literal translation of the value for the code referenced in the manual version used |
| UNADJ_PROP_COVER | Midpoint of PCT_COVERAGE_LITERAL. |
| CONTROL NUMBER | Sequence number. A unique index used to easily identify a plot, also known as PLT_CN in other tables. |
For a quick view of the raw data itself, click on
http://srsfia2.fs.fed.us/nonnative_invasive/snipet/snipet_40.php
to view occurrence records for forested subplots. As is, the data are accessible to quickly obtain information by county on the occurrence of taxa on the SRS-FIA watch list. For the original identification guidebook, see http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs062/
Or
the recently updated guidebook, see http://www.srs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_srs119.pdf
NONNATIVE INVASIVE MAPS
SRS-FIA has created some county level choropleth maps of the Nonnative Invasive data and those maps can be found here. Maps are updated periodically. Please check back often.
JOINING NNIP DATA TO FIA PHASE 2 DATA
IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND
1) If you do not see nonnative invasive data for a given plot it does not mean that the plot was missed. When you join the plot data with the nonnative invasive data, you will see plots that do not have corresponding nonnative invasive data, and this is acceptable in that the species of concern were not present.
2) Nonnative invasive data is not collected on non-forest plots.
3) The percent of nonnative invasive cover for a given species on a subplot is based only on the percent of the subplot in a forested condition, which means prop_cover = unadj_prop_cover/(condition proportion forested), but no greater than 1.000. Other data manipulation is needed for mixed (more than one) forested conditions on a subplot.4) Different Field collection manuals were used to collect the data on the ground. Please note that with these different manuals code definitions have changed. Code 4 is of special concern. Please take note:
In versions 1.x the codes are:
1: Trace < 01%
2: 01-10%
3: 11-50%
4: >50%
And in version 2.0 the codes are:
1: Trace < 01%
2: 01-10%
3: 11-50%
4: 51-90%
5: 91-100%
In version 4.0 the codes are:
1:
Trace < 01%
2:
01-10%
3:
11-50%
4:
51-90%
5:
91-100%
PCT_COVERAGE_LITERAL(adj. for Manual ver.)is the value for the code referenced in the manual version used. Once again, code 4 is of special concern.
5) States have collected panels of data with varying start dates and varying panels. Please take a look at this webpage for a listing of survey history or here for a listing of recent data made available Nationally.
6) The data available for download from the FIADB/FIA Datamart website has coordinates and ownership values "fuzzed and swapped" To better understand this issue, please see this website, and feel free to contact us for clarification.
7) The nonnative invasive plant data may not contain all the information needed to answer certain questions. Generally, no voucher specimens are collected. Often times more data needs to be married (joined/merged) to the nonnative invasive plant data in order to draw conclusions, make maps, etc. The following instructions (below) may help marry this data for further analysis. If you marry (join/merge) the data differently and would like to share your methods, please let us know.
8) Other caveats/notes:
Observations of 3071 English ivy (Hedera helix) were not recorded before National manual version 2.0.
For surveys prior to January 2004, misidentification/confusion between the two groups of Ligustrum species (codes 2103 and 2104) likely occurred in some survey cycles, subcycles, counties, and States.
In Arkansas, cycle 3 panel 3, underreporting of nonnative invasive species presence may have occurred, as observation frequencies were about 1/2 those of subsequent panels.
NOTE: An effort has been made to document discrepancies, but exploration may uncover other discrepancies not yet thought of. Please be mindful of the documentation, discrepancies-noted-to-date, and caveats documented therein. Please also let us know what you think. This database will improve with users who take the trouble to explore the data, conduct analyses, and communicate with us. Please route comments and suggestions through our customer service representatives. Also, if you have any questions please feel free to contact us. Thanks.
SUGGESTED CITATION
Ridley, Ted; Oswalt, Christopher M.. Southern Nonnative Invasive Plant data Extraction Tool, version 4.0. Knoxville, TN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program. [Available only on the internet: http://srsfia2.fs.fed.us/nonnative_invasive/Southern_Nonnative_Invasives.htm Date accessed: Month-day-year ].
EXAMPLE DATA USEAGE
The database still is under construction, as more work is needed to permit those unfamiliar with FIA to obtain more detailed information, such as estimates of the area of forestland with infestations, severity of infestations, area of coverage, and distribution maps by plot. For those already familiar with other FIA data, exploratory research may be conducted by downloading the invasive species information and linking it with associated FIA data that resides on the FIA DataMart website http://fiatools.fs.fed.us/fiadb-downloads/datamart.html An example "how-to" is provided below.
To see SNIPET data click one of the files below.
ALL
Trees
Shrubs
Vines
Grasses
Ferns,forbs,herbs,other herbacious
Florida exclusive species