GUIDELINES FOR DESCRIBING ASSOCIATIONS AND ALLIANCES OF THE U.S. NATIONAL VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION Michael Jennings1*, Don Faber-Langendoen2, Robert Peet3, Orie Loucks4, David Glenn-Lewin5, Antoni Damman6, Michael Barbour7, Robert Pfister8, Dennis Grossman2, David Roberts9, David Tart10, Marilyn Walker10, Stephen Talbot11, Joan Walker10, Gary Hartshorn12, Gary Waggoner1, Marc Abrams13, Alison Hill10, Marcel Rejmanek7 The Ecological Society of America Vegetation Classification Panel Version 4.0 July, 2004 1. U.S. Geological Survey, 2. NatureServe, 3. University of North Carolina, 4. Miami University, 5. Unity College, 6. Kansas State University, 7. University of California-Davis, 8. University of Montana, 9. Montana State University, 10. USDA Forest Service, 11. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 12. World Forestry Center, 13. Pennsylvania State University, * Manuscript contact: email [email protected]; phone 208-885-3901 The Ecological Society of America, Vegetation Classification Panel 1 ABSTRACT 2 The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for describing and classifying plant 3 associations and alliances as formally recognized units of vegetation within the U.S. National 4 Vegetation Classification (NVC), a regional component of the International Vegetation 5 Classification (NatureServe 2003). The guidelines are intended to be used by anyone proposing 6 additions, deletions, or other changes to the named units of the NVC. By setting forth guidelines 7 for field records, analysis, description, peer review, archiving, and dissemination, the Ecological 8 Society of America’s Vegetation Classification Panel, in collaboration with the U.S. Federal 9 Geographic Data Committee, NatureServe, the U.S. Geological Survey, and others, seeks to 10 advance our common understanding of vegetation and improve our capability to sustain this 11 resource. 12 We begin by articulating the rationale for developing these guidelines and then briefly 13 review the history and development of vegetation classification in the United States. The 14 guidelines for floristic units of vegetation include definitions of the association and alliance 15 concepts. This is followed by a description of the requirements for field plot records and the 16 identification and classification of vegetation types. Guidelines for peer review of proposed 17 additions and revisions of types are provided, as is a structure for data access and management. 18 Since new knowledge and insight will inevitably lead to the need for improvements to the 19 guidelines described here, this document has been written with the expectation that it will be 20 revised with new versions produced as needed. Recommendations for revisions should be 21 addressed to the Panel Chair, Vegetation Classification Panel, Ecological Society of America, 22 Suite 400, 735 H St, NW, Washington, DC. Email contact information can be found at 23 http://www.esa.org/vegweb or contact the Ecological Society of America’s Science Program 24 Office, 1707 H St, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20006, Telephone: (202) 833-8773. The 25 authors of this document work as volunteers in the service of the Ecological Society of America 26 and the professional opinions expressed by them in this document are not necessarily those of 27 the institutions that employ them. 1 Guidelines for Describing Associations and Alliances of the U.S. NVC, Version 3.0 28 TABLE OF CONTENTS 29 ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................... 1 30 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 3 31 1. RATIONALE............................................................................................................................ 3 32 2. BACKGROUND AND PRINCIPLES ..................................................................................... 5 33 2.1 DISCLAIMERS............................................................................................................... 7 34 3. A BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ............................................................................. 8 35 3.1. DESCRIBING AND CLASSIFYING VEGETATION .................................................. 9 36 3.2. A NATIONAL VEGETATION CLASSIFICATION FOR THE UNITED STATES .. 18 37 ESTABLISHING AND REVISING FLORISTIC UNITS OF VEGETATION .......................... 21 38 4. THE ASSOCIATION AND ALLIANCE CONCEPTS ......................................................... 22 39 4.1. ASSOCIATION............................................................................................................. 22 40 4.2 ALLIANCE.................................................................................................................... 25 41 5. VEGETATION FIELD PLOTS ............................................................................................. 27 42 5.1. MAJOR TYPES OF REQUIRED DATA ..................................................................... 27 43 5.2. STAND SELECTION AND PLOT DESIGN ............................................................... 28 44 5.3 PLOT DATA................................................................................................................. 34 45 6. CLASSIFICATION AND DESCRIPTION OF FLORISTIC UNITS ................................... 46 46 6.1. FROM PLANNING TO DATA INTERPRETATION ................................................. 46 47 6.2. DOCUMENTATION AND DESCRIPTION OF TYPES............................................. 51 48 6.3. NOMENCLATURE OF ASSOCIATIONS AND ALLIANCES................................. 54 49 7. PEER REVIEW...................................................................................................................... 58 50 7.1 CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENCE............................................................................. 59 51 7.2. PEER-REVIEW PROCESS........................................................................................... 61 52 8. DATA ACCESS AND MANAGEMENT.............................................................................. 64 53 8.1 BOTANICAL NOMENCLATURE .............................................................................. 64 54 8.2 PLOT DATA ARCHIVES AND DATA EXCHANGE................................................ 66 55 8.3 COMMUNITY-TYPE DATABASES........................................................................... 67 56 8.4 PROPOSAL SUBMISSION AND THE NVC PROCEEDINGS.................................. 68 57 9. DEFINTIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR FIELD APPLICATIONS .................................... 68 58 9.1 DEFINITIONS AND CRITERIA FOR FLORISTIC UNITS....................................... 69 59 9.2 COLLECTING FIELD PLOTS..................................................................................... 70 60 9.3. CLASSIFYING AND DESCRIBING ASSOCIATIONS AND ALLIANCES ............ 75 61 9.4 PEER REVIEW OF PROPOSED VEGETATION TYPES .......................................... 79 62 9.5. MANAGEMENT OF VEGETATION DATA.............................................................. 82 63 LOOKING AHEAD ..................................................................................................................... 84 64 10. INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION, PROSPECTS AND DIRECTIONS................... 84 65 10.1 INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION .................................................................... 84 66 10.2 BUILDING THE CLASSIFICATION CONSORTIUM FOR THE FUTURE............. 85 67 10.3 PROSPECTS FOR SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT .................................................. 86 2 The Ecological Society of America, Vegetation Classification Panel 68 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ 88 69 LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................................. 89 70 GLOSSARY ............................................................................................................................... 101 71 APPENDIX 1.............................................................................................................................. 107 72 APPENDIX 2.............................................................................................................................. 124 73 APPENDIX 3.............................................................................................................................. 137 74 APPENDIX 4.............................................................................................................................. 147 75 TABLES ..................................................................................................................................... 148 76 FIGURES.................................................................................................................................... 157 77 TEXT BOXES ............................................................................................................................ 162 78 79 INTRODUCTION 80 1. RATIONALE 81 A standardized, widely accepted vegetation classification for the United States is required 82 for effective inventory, assessment, and management of the nation's ecosystems. These needs 83 are increasingly apparent as individuals, private organizations, and governments grapple with the 84 escalating alteration and loss of natural vegetation (for examples, see