Proposing changes to the USNVC
The USNVC is a dynamic classification, supported by a data standard that provides the basis for considering, evaluating, and acting on proposals for new types and additional changes to the hierarchy.
The process for managing the USNVC includes a peer review process and open access for anyone interested in submitting a proposal for consideration. The goal of the submissions process is to help maintain an authoritative and comprehensive description and classification of the nation’s ecosystems.
Submit an Article
Revision Articles are encouraged that are plot-based, field tested, ecologically interpreted, provide range-wide perspective on vegetation types, and clearly delimit the concepts with respect to existing published concepts in the USNVC. Authors are not prevented from submitting closely related publications to other journals, where the focus is typically on broad readership, and where the details of the classification concepts are often not publishable. Authors should alert the Editors to such joint submissions.
Submission Types
- Editorial Notes will be relatively short, editorial improvements to existing type concepts in the USNVC. They improve, without substantively changing, existing concepts. They may include spelling/grammar edits, species taxonomic edits, minor range edits, improvements to vegetation, environment or dynamics content, etc. A log of such Notes, including authors, will be published annually in the USNVC Proceedings. Such changes are typically handled directly by the NVC Review Board.
- Revision Articles published in USNVC Proceedings seek to either substantially revise existing type concepts or propose new type concepts. These may include substantial range changes (especially if such changes affect other concepts of the hierarchy), biotic or abiotic changes that narrow or enlarge the concept, inclusion of plot data or reanalysis of plot data to support the concept, and changes in confidence level. Articles are similar to journal articles, but require use of a standard USNVC type description template. Such changes require a peer review process administered by the NVC Review Board.
- Methods, Data, and Best Practices papers published in USNVC Proceedings will cover topics related to the practice of ecological vegetation classification for the USNVC (such as sampling methods, data gaps, or best practices when analyzing data) but are not directly concerned with editing or revising specific vegetation type concepts. Submissions require a peer review process administered by the NVC Review Board.
Peer Review Board
Members of the Peer Review Board (PRB) are vegetation scientists who have a general and basic understanding of the principles of the USNVC and International Vegetation Classification (IVC). They are familiar with the concepts of macrogroups, group, alliance, and association, as used by the USNVC and IVC. They are familiar with the vegetation of the region they represent or have expertise in a specific set of vegetation types, including from a range-wide perspective.
Peer Review Board Members, September 2025. Nation: US = United States; CAN = Canada; US CB = US Territory in Caribbean.
| Region | Subregion | Contact | Nation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | Don Faber-Langendoen | US | Editor-in-Chief | |
| WEST | Warm Desert | Este Muldavin | US | Regional Editor |
| Patrick McIntyre | US | Associate Editor | ||
| Californian | Rachelle Boul | US | Regional Editor | |
| Jamie Ratchford | US | Regional Editor | ||
| Julie Evens | US | Regional Editor | ||
| Cool Semi-Desert | Marion Reid | US | Regional Editor | |
| Keith Schulz | US | Associate Editor | ||
| Patrick McIntyre | US | Regional Editor | ||
| Pacific | Joe Rocchio (US) | US | Regional Editor | |
| Tynan Ramm-Granberg | US | Associate Editor | ||
| Del Meidinger | CAN | Regional Editor | ||
| Kitty Labounty | US | Regional Editor | ||
| Rocky Mountain | Jack Triepke | US | Regional Editor | |
| Tynan Ramm-Granberg | US | Associate Editor | ||
| Scott Franklin | US | Associate Editor | ||
| Chris Murphy | US | Associate Editor | ||
| Mary Manning | US | Associate Editor | ||
| Western Wetlands | Gwen Kittel | US | Regional Editor | |
| GREAT PLAINS | Great Plains | Bruce Hoagland | US | Regional Editor |
| Scott Franklin | US | Associate Editor | ||
| Keith Schulz | US | Associate Editor | ||
| EAST | Laurentian-Acadian | Don Faber-Langendoen | US | Regional Editor |
| Central Interior-Midwest | Don Faber-Langendoen | US | Regional Editor | |
| Appalachian- Northeast | Ephraim Zimmerman | US | Regional Editor | |
| South-Central | Milo Pyne | US | Regional Editor | |
| Martina Hines | US | Associate Editor | ||
| Southeast Coastal Plain | Kyle Palmquist | US | Regional Editor | |
| Alan Weakley | US | Regional Editor | ||
| CARIBBEAN | Caribbean – Puerto Rico | Humfredo (Fito) Marcano | US CB | Regional Editor |
| Eileen Helmer | US CB | Associate Editor | ||
| BOREAL & ARCTIC | Boreal | Torre Jorgenson | US | Regional Editor |
| Boreal & Arctic | Timm Nawrocki | US | Associate Editor | |
| Lindsey Flagstad | US | Associate Editor | ||
| Tina Boucher | US | Associate Editor | ||
| ARCTIC | North American Arctic | Aaron Wells | US | Regional Editor / AVC liaison |
| Will Mackenzie | CAN | Regional Editor | ||
| OCEANA | Hawaiian Islands | TBD | US | Regional Editor |
| GENERAL | ESA Panel Chair | Este Muldavin | US | Chair, ESA Vegetation Classification Panel |
| Support to USNVC | Alexis Conley | US | ESA Staff |
Photo credits: ESA Vegetation Panel