Native Plant Community Classification Survey
The DNR's Native Plant Community Classification is used throughout Minnesota for vegetation management, conservation and land-use planning. The DNR is in the process of updating the classification and would like your input by taking this short survey.
Sampling Methodology
A Handbook for Collecting Vegetation Plot Data in Minnesota: The Relevé Method (2nd Edition) describes the current practices of DNR plant ecologists for collection of vegetation plot data using the relevé method. Relevés have been widely used in Europe for vegetation description and classification and increasingly are being adopted for vegetation study in North America. The DNR maintains a database containing electronic versions of relevés and other very similar kinds of vegetation plot data collected across Minnesota beginning in the 1960s. This handbook supplants the first handbook describing the methods DNR plant ecologists use for collecting relevé plot data, A Handbook for Collecting Relevé Data in Minnesota, which was compiled by J. C. Almendinger in 1987.Documents below revised June 21, 2013.- Booklet Version (7mb). Formatted to print double-sided, horizontally on 8.5" x 11" paper, fold in half, and staple along the spine to make a 5.5" x 8.5" booklet. For best printing results, save pdf file to your computer before printing.
- Single-Page Version (8.5mb). Formatted for accessible electronic viewing and one page-per-sheet printing.
- Two-Column Version Provides space for recording up to 80 plant species; formatted to print on 8.5" x 11" paper, one page per sheet.
- Three-Column Version Provides space for recording up to 126 plant species; formatted to print on 8.5" x 11" paper, one page per sheet.
Vegetation and Land Classification
Minnesota's Native Plant Communities provides a brief overview of native plant communities in Minnesota and of the DNR's current native plant community classification (Version 2.0), along with electronic versions of fact sheets from the DNR's field guides to native plant communities (below). Version 2.0 of the DNR's native plant community classification is based on extensive analysis of vegetation plot data from across Minnesota and replaces the community classification described in Minnesota's Native Vegetation: A Key to Natural Communities (Version 1.5) . The previous version (1.5) of the classification was based on the collective field experience of DNR plant ecologists, supplemented by published vegetation studies, and is now mainly of historic interest.Field Guides to the Native Plant Communities of Minnesota contain native plant community descriptions, keys, and fact sheets based on Version 2.0 of the DNR's native plant community classification. The field guides are published in three volumes, organized according to the provinces defined in Minnesota's ecological land classification system:- Field Guide to the Native Plant Communities of Minnesota: The Laurentian Mixed Forest Province
- Field Guide to the Native Plant Communities of Minnesota: The Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province
- Field Guide to the Native Plant Communities of Minnesota: The Prairie Parkland and Tallgrass Aspen Parklands Provinces