Your guide to the nation’s vegetation!
The U.S National Vegetation Classification (USNVC) is a comprehensive classification system for all vegetation types in the United States. Much like a flora for plant species, the USNVC offers a hierarchy of classification levels from coarse to fine, providing a common language for the effective management and conservation of plant communities in the U.S. Furthermore, it is governed by standards for vegetation data collection and analysis, ensuring consistent reporting on the nation’s vegetation resources.
Featured Articles
USNVC 3.0
The latest version of the U.S National Vegetation
Classification, USNVC 3.0, has been released. Key elements of this version include: 1) a reworked set of upper levels based on biome concepts; 2) a systematically peer reviewed set of mid-level units, and 3) a peer reviewed set of alliances with a nested list of associations.
Scientia Article
Background on the USNVC is provided in the Scientia article: The United States National Vegetation Classification: Creating a Common Language to Classify the Nation’s Vegetation. Follow the link below to read the article.
Recent Ecosphere Publication
Advancing the EcoVeg approach as a terrestrial ecosystem typology: From global biomes to local plant communities. Don Faber-Langendoen, David A. Keith, Javier Loidi, Eileen H. Helmer, Wolfgang Willner, Gonzalo Navarro, John Hunter, Changcheng Liu, Reginald T. Guuroh, Patricio Pliscoff. 12 May 2025 https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70237
Featured Article 4
The U.S National Vegetation
Class, it is governed by
standards for vegetation data
collection and analysis,
ensuring consistent reporting
on the nation’s vegetation
resources.
The Partnership
The US National Vegetation Classification (USNVC) is maintained through a formal partnership between federal agencies and non-federal partners. These groups collaborate under the Vegetation Subcommittee, established in 1991 as part of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), with the USDA Forest Service (USFS) serving as the lead agency.
