PLOTS Database

Technician sitting on a rocky outcrop, writing notes about the vegetation beneath him
Recording vegetation data in Canyonlands National Park

The PLOTS database was created by the Colorado Natural Heritage Program for the National Park Service. It is designed to store vegetation mapping field data (species abundance and cover data per plot, plot classification, and accuracy assessment point data). The NPS Vegetation Mapping Inventory program uses this database as an integral part of its data management.

PLOTS version 4.0 is a Microsoft Access database and requires Microsoft Access 2007 or later installed on your computer. The database has undergone substantial reviews by NPS staff, NatureServe and other ecological partners across the U.S. The 4.0 version of PLOTS is now required for the collection of taxonomic data necessary for vegetation inventories.

PLOTS version 4.0 can be downloaded from the NPS Data Store.

Last updated: January 17, 2024