DCR Launches New Phragmites Mapping Web Application

A new tool developed by DCR allows users to identify occurrences of the invasive wetland grass Phragmites. The tool, called the Virginia Phragmites Mapping Application, makes use of digital aerial photography and tax parcel boundaries. Landowners can check to see if Phragmites has been mapped on their property. If it does occur, the location and amount of area covered can be determined .

The Virginia Phragmites Mapping Application is intended to facilitate management planning by individuals and groups wishing to control or reduce Phragmites on their lands. By helping landowners and land managers identify this aggressive invasive species, DCR hopes to make controlling Phragmites a little easier. Knowing how much and where Phragmites is present on a tract are critical components to management planning .

The Phragmites Mapping Application is under development, with newly mapped areas of Virginia being added as data becomes available. Watch this page for links to Help, FAQs, and more.

In the meantime, jump into the application here: http://128.172.160.130/phrag/

The application was developed under a contract with Virginia Commonwealth Universityнs Center for Environmental Studies and supported by NOAA funds through the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program (CZMP), during Year Four of the Seaside Heritage Program. www.deq.virginia.gov/coastal/vshp

The first aerial Phragmites data layer was collected in August and September of 2004 by an aerial survey and GPS mapping of Phragmites on the Seaside of Virginia's Eastern Shore, made possible by CZMP funding during Year Two of the Seaside Heritage Program. The Bayside Eastern Shore and Tidal Rappahannock River Phragmites data layers were collected during the summers of 2006 and 2007. Funding for the Rappahannock aerial census was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through a cooperative agreement with DCR.

Tax parcel data layers do not provide personal identifying information on landowners; only the shapes of tax parcels are displayed.

The aerial photography is from the Commonwealth of Virginia Base Map data, from flights conducted in 2002

Send comments and questions to infovainvasivespecies@dcr.virginia.gov.

                 

This project was funded in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationнs Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management pursuant to NOAA Award No. NA05NOS4191180 (Task 9.05).