A major vegetation mapping project was undertaken from 1995 to 2003, entitled "The South Florida Vegetation Mapping Project" (Doren and others, 1999; Welch and others, 1999; Rutchey and others, 2005). This project was a collaborative effort involving the Center of Remote Sensing and Mapping Science at the University of Georgia, the South Florida National Resources Center at Everglades National Park, and the South Florida Water Management District. As a result, a vegetation classification system (Jones and others, 1999; A Vegetation Classification System for Southern Florida's National Parks and Preserves) and a photointerpretation key (Madden and others, 1999) were developed to map Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Biscayne National Park, the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, and Water Conservation Area 3. A number of national and statewide classification systems (Anderson and others, 1976; Cowardin and others, 1979; FLUCCS, 1985) were considered at that time, but were rejected because they failed to include the desired level of detail or specificity of vegetation classes for south Florida ecosystems. However, the classification system did utilize data from a number of local mapping projects that had been conducted in the area (Davis, 1943; McPherson, 1973; Gunderson and Loope, 1982; Olmsted and others, 1983; and Rose and Draughn, 1991) and also detailed descriptions of Everglade's vegetation (Craighead, 1971; Davis and Ogden, 1994; Duever and others, 1986; and Egler; 1952). Eight major vegetation types were described in the final classification system. The designated vegetation types were: forest, scrub, savanna, prairies and marshes, shrublands, exotics, additional class headings, and special modifiers.

The previous Vegetation Classification System for Southern Florida's National Parks and Preserves (Jones and others, 1999) was reviewed for the CERP RECOVER Vegetation mapping project by a work-team consisting of personnel from South Florida Water Management District, Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, National Park Service (NPS) -South Florida Caribbean Network, NPS-Exotic Plant Management Team, U.S. Geological Survey, Florida International University, Institute for Regional Conservation, NatureServe, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and University of Georgia Center for Remote Sening and Mapping. Although that previous work was a landmark effort in its attempt at creating a vegetation classification system that was specific to south Florida Parks and Preserves, it could be significantly improved upon by utilizing suggested associations in an expanded list of vegetation field guides, newer vegetation studies, and improving compatibility to a new NatureServe classification system (NatureServe, 2003).

New field guides (Austin and Smith, 1997; Langeland and K. Craddock Burks, 1998; Miller, 2003; Nelson, 1996; Tobe and others, 1998; and USFWS, 1999) along with an expanded list of older guides (Bell and Taylor, 1982; Duncan and Duncan, 1988; Hilsenbeck and others, 1979; Long and Lakela, 1971; Myers and Ewel, 1990; Nellis, 1994; and Nelson 1994) were used to improve upon the Jones and others (1999) classification system. In addition, two key field research initiatives that examined tree island types (Armentano and others, 2002) and the differentiation between marshes and wet prairies (Ross and others, 2006) were heavily relied upon in developing the new classification system for those habitats.

NatureServe is a primary partner in the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service effort to classify, describe, and map vegetation communities in more than 250 national park units across the United States. NatureServe has developed a U.S. National Vegetation Classification system that represents a standard and hierarchical approach to identifying and describing vegetation types. This classification system is the result of a decade of work that began under the auspices of The Nature Conservancy. The classification system currently includes more than 4,500 vegetation types and has been adopted by the Federal Geographic Data Committee for use by all U.S. federal agencies. A Tropical Florida Subset (NatureServe, 2003) was reviewed and found to lack the detail and specificity in vegetation classes that were needed for the CERP RECOVER Vegetation Mapping effort. The current CERP RECOVER classification system has been significantly modified to take into account any potential cross-walk that would need to occur between this CERP RECOVER classification system and the USGS-NPS National Vegetation Classification System. The National Park Service-South Florida / Caribbean Network plans to use the findings of this current mapping project and classification system development to update, enhance and expand the NatureServe "Tropical Florida Subset".