A Manual of California Vegetation

The first edition of the manual, published in 1995, has filled a long awaited void in California resource management. It has been adopted as the standard vegetation classification by state and federal agencies such as the California Department of Fish and Game, the United States Forest Service, National Park Service, and United States Geological Survey. It is now also the standard reference for vegetation used by consulting firms and planners.

The manual is arranged by tree, shrub, and herbaceous dominated vegetation with keys to each of the three main groups included. Within each group are described the vegetation "series" - the principal classification unit. A series is a floristically defined vegetation type identified by its dominant and/or characteristic species. Series are easily defined by using basic rules of dominance - the type being named by the single or shared dominant species in the highest strata in a given stand of vegetation. For each series description the species composition, structure, and physical and geographical setting, are briefly discussed. These are followed by relationships to other vegetation classifications in use in California, general references, ecological comments, information on quantitative descriptions and any associations (the finer level of the classification beneath series) that may have been described for the series.

The format of the vegetation descriptions and other information in the manual were developed following consensus by the Vegetation Committee and were written by two members of the committee following extensive review by over 100 ecologists and botanists. The descriptions reflect in-depth literature review and synthesis of all available information on California vegetation and are put into context of their rarity and conservation value by relating them to the Natural Diversity Data Base rarity coding system.

The Program wishes to make the MCV a flexible and adaptable tool by developing a means to regularly update it. As new information comes in via CNPS chapter, private organization, and agency inventory efforts, we are entering the information into CVIS. Using CVIS as the information management tool, we will be able to update and download the new information and develop future editions of the classification in both hard copy and customized digital versions.

Currently a web-based version of the MCV exists and is maintained through The University of California at Davis. The Program also expects to update and improve this queriable tool.

Preparation of the Second Edition

It is the objective of the Program to continually improve and update the information in the classification. We have conducted two scientific forums - symposia sponsored by the Association of American Academy of Sciences, which have provided feedback to our committee regarding the usefulness of the classification. The MCV has also been reviewed in several scholarly journals. Comments from the reviewers have been considered by the committee and viable suggestions are being incorporated into the revised format of the next edition.

The Program is currently preparing the next version of the manual. The next edition will include extensive information on disturbance effects for each vegetation description, dynamic states (successional relationships), a revised geographic context for using the distribution information, integrating a multi-resolution hierarchy that relates to the new standard National Vegetation Classification, a more systematic accurate crosswalk to other habitat or cover type classifications, a rarity and conservation coding system that relates directly to the vegetation classification, more extensive photographs of all series, as well as all new updates and revisions to vegetation types known from the State. The next version will be published in both digital and hard copy versions.