The Alaska Vegetation Classification - Alaska Geobotany Center ...

IntroductionThe first draft of this classification system was produced at the Alaskan RangelandWorkshop in Anchorage in February 1976. It was a rudimentary effort with four levelsof resolution. Improvements were made, and a revision was sent out for review inJune 1976. Members of the committee that worked on these early drafts were WilliamGabriel (Bureau of Land Management, Anchorage), Samuel Rieger (Soil ConservationService, Anchorage), David Murray (University of Alaska Fairbanks), and Leslie A.Viereck and C. Theodore Dyrness (Institute of Northern Forestry, Fairbanks). Therewas considerable statewide interest in the effort, and several suggestions for improvementsin the system were received. In 1977, Murray and Batten (1977) produced anunpublished provisional classification of tundra communities in Alaska: Batten alsoreviewed many vegetation descriptions and determined the synonymy of many vegetationtypes. Their work was incorporated into a much more comprehensive classificationsystem for Alaska's vegetation.The first publication of the system appeared in 1980 under the title, "A preliminaryclassification system for vegetation of Alaska" (Viereck and Dyrness 1980). Thispublication was widely distributed and apparently was well received; but it constitutedonly the first approximation of a comprehensive, statewide system, and much workremained to be done. A revision of the classification system was released in May1981 (Viereck and others 1981) and was distributed rather widely with a call forsuggestions by users for further improvements. This 1981 revision incorporated twomajor changes: (1) tundra as a level I formation was discontinued, and the tundraunits were retained and incorporated into the scrub and herbaceous vegetation formations:and (2) wetland units were developed fully and were clearly identified atlevel IV. This portion of the revision was based largely on a 1980 unpublished reportby Batten (1980).A workshop on classification of Alaska vegetation held in Anchorage in December1981 led to a second revision of the published system, which was issued in May1982 (Viereck and others 1982). At the workshop, the classification was revised tolevel 111, definitions were agreed on that helped delineate the major units of the classification,and descriptions of the "descriptors" and "states" for determining the variouslevels were discussed. As a result of these discussions, many changes were madein system terminology, and categories in level I were reduced from four to three withthe placement of aquatic vegetation in the herbaceous category. Workshop participantsalso agreed that the final version should include keys, descriptions of vegetationunits, photographs typifying some of the more common units, and a glossary.Another well-attended workshop involving those interested in classifying Alaska'svegetation was held in Anchorage in February 1983. Participants expressed stronginterest in seeing the final version of the classification system published, and an interagencycommittee was appointed to aid in this endeavor. Members of the committeewere Stephen Talbot ( US Fish and Wildlife Service), Page Spencer (Bureau of LandManagement), Merlin Wibbenmeyer (Alaska Department of Natural Resources), JonMartin (USDA Forest Service). David Murray (University of Alaska Fairbanks), andPete Scorup (University of Alaska, Palmer).1