The Minnesota Native Plant Classification was published in 2003, with two additional field guides released in 2005,
to provide a common language for vegetation conservation and management across Minnesota. It is used by multiple DNR divisions;
federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;
county land departments; nonprofit organizations; educators; researchers; and environmental consultants. The current classification hierarchy aligns
with Minnesota’s Ecological Classification System (ECS) provinces and sections, allowing vegetation management issues to be assessed consistently
from broad landscapes down to individual stands.
The published MN NPC is based on relevé data collected from 1964 through the early 2000s,
replacing an older expert based descriptive system with an empirically derived one. A total of 5,523 plots were used in the original Field Guide development.
Since then, an additional 4,144 relevés have been collected, including data from ecological systems that were under represented or absent in the original analysis.
An update to the classification is currently underway, with a target completion date of 2027, and will incorporate these newer data to fill geographic gaps and
correct regional imbalances present in the original analysis.
The MNNPC tool being developed for RMAVIS builds on the published classification but serves a different purpose.
The website presents the official, static classification, while the tool provides a data driven environment for exploring how new relevés,
updated analyses, and additional ecological systems relate to the existing framework. The tool supports tasks such as testing plot assignments,
examining fidelity and diversity metrics, and evaluating distinctions among similar communities. As new data continue to accumulate,
the tool will help inform future refinements such as improved field keys and clearer separation of ecotonal communities.
Publications:
Aaseng, N.E., Almendinger, J.C., Dana, R.P., Hanson, D.S., Lee, M.D., Rowe, E.R., Rusterholz, K.A. and Wovcha, D.S., 2011. Minnesota’s native plant community classification: A statewide classification of terrestrial and wetland vegetation based on numerical analysis of plot data. Biological Report, 108, pp.1-27. URL: Minnesota’s native plant community classification: A statewide classification of terrestrial and wetland vegetation based on numerical analysis of plot data.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2003. Field guide to the native plant communities of Minnesota: The Laurentian Mixed Forest Province. Ecological Land Classification Program, Minnesota County Biological Survey, and Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, MN, US.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2005a. Field guide to the native plant communities of Minnesota: The Eastern Broadleaf Forest Province. Ecological Land Classification Program, Minnesota County Biological Survey, and Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, MN, US.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2005b. Field guide to the native plant communities of Minnesota: The Prairie Parkland and Tallgrass Aspen Parklands provinces. Ecological Land Classification Program, Minnesota County Biological Survey, and Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, MN, US.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 2007. A handbook for collecting vegetation plot data in Minnesota: The relevé method. Minnesota County Biological Survey, Minnesota Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program, and Ecological Land Classification Program, Biological Report 92. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, St. Paul, MN, US. URL: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/eco/mcbs/vegetation_sampling.html (accessed November 11, 2025).
Terms of use
To help highlight use of relevé data outside of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and to protect the DNRs
copyright interest in these data, users are asked to acknowledge the DNRs Minnesota Biological Survey Program as the source
of information in any product derived from the relevé data, and to include in any product an appropriate copyright notice in
the name of the DNR (for example, Copyright 2026 State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources). Products include hard
copy or digital versions of studies, summaries, reports, maps, proposals, plans, analyses, interpretations, derivative works,
and compilations containing relevé data. If you have any questions about the data or its use, please contact:
Daniel Wovcha
500 Lafayette Rd., Box 25
St. Paul, MN 55155
(651) 259-5154
Daniel.Wovcha@state.mn.us
