{"id":872,"date":"2012-01-20T16:01:11","date_gmt":"2012-01-20T16:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegweb2\/?page_id=12"},"modified":"2025-12-22T19:51:39","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T19:51:39","slug":"usnvc","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/usnvc\/","title":{"rendered":"USNVC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/usnvc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">US National Vegetation Classification<\/a>\u00a0(USNVC) provides a national, conceptual framework for classifying, inventorying, and studying both cultural and natural vegetation of the U.S. It provides a common language for the effective management and conservation of plant communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The USNVC\u00a0federal Standard is a <strong>process\u00a0<\/strong>standard. The standard itself does not contain a formal set of classification units, but rather outlines the process by which such units are to be described, peer reviewed, and maintained through various data-management and web tools. This means that the classification is <em>dynamic<\/em>, subject to change as vegetation scientists revise or newly describe vegetation types in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vision for the Standard was that it would be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Useful for conservation and resource management<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Focused on classifying existing vegetation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hierarchical, with upper levels based on physiognomy and lower levels based on floristics<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inclusive of both cultural and natural vegetation types<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Built from publicly available plot data whenever possible<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Revised through a peer review process<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The hierarchy for the cultural types of the standard relies heavily on existing classification systems (FGDC 2008).\u00a0The proposed pilot classification for the upper levels of the cultural hierarchy are based on the National Land Cover Dataset (USGS 2001) classes, while several of the lower levels are based on the Natural Resources Inventory, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRI 2003).\u00a0The ESA Panel on Vegetation Classification plans to continue to work with the federal agencies to refine the classification of cultural types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Currently much of the activity of the ESA Panel is focused on implementing a streamlined peer-review process for descriptions at all levels of the hierarchy and developing training and outreach materials for USNVC users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are interested in participating in the review process please <a title=\"Contact\" href=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">contact us<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more details on these efforts, please see the\u00a0<a title=\"Current Projects\" href=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/projects\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">projects page<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">EXPLORE\u00a0THE\u00a0CURRENT\u00a0CONTENT<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-content-justification-right is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-column-is-layout-2910ada7 wp-block-column-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"flex-basis:30%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/usnvc.org\/explore-classification\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-417\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"119\" src=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel-preprod\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/88\/2012\/01\/hierarchy-explorer-logo.png\" alt=\"hierarchy-explorer-logo\" class=\"wp-image-417 img-fluid\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-column-is-layout-54d22900 wp-block-column-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">Learn more <a href=\"https:\/\/usnvc.org\">USNVC Hierarchy Explorer<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>FGDC 2008 National Vegetation Classification Standard, Version 2.\u00a0 Federal Geographic Data Committee \u2013 Vegetation Subcommittee.\u00a0 FGDC-STD-005-2008 (Version 2). <a href=\"http:\/\/www.fgdc.gov\/standards\/projects\/FGDC-standards-projects\/vegetation\/NVCS_V2_FINAL_2008-02.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/www.fgdc.gov\/standards\/projects\/FGDC-standards-projects\/vegetation\/NVCS_V2_FINAL_2008-02.pdf<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>National Resources Inventory (NRI). 2003. Handbook of Instruction for Remote Data Collection, Chapter 13.\u00a0 Land Cover \/ Use. Natural Resources Conservation Service. USDA, Washington, DC.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 2001. NLCD Land Cover Class Definitions, USGS EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, URL:\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/landcover.usgs.gov\/natllandcover.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">http:\/\/landcover.usgs.gov\/natllandcover.php<\/a>, last accessed 30 August 2006.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US National Vegetation Classification\u00a0(USNVC) provides a national, conceptual framework for classifying, inventorying, and studying both cultural and natural vegetation of the U.S. It provides a common language for the effective management and conservation of plant communities. The USNVC\u00a0federal Standard is a process\u00a0standard. The standard itself does not contain a formal set of classification units, but rather outlines the process&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":31,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-872","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/872\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1780,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/872\/revisions\/1780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/vegpanel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}