Technical Commentary: A Structural Classification for Inland Northwest Forest Vegetation

Existing approaches to vegetation classification r nge from those based on potential vegetation to others based on existmg vegetation composition, or existing structural or physiognomic characteristics. Examples of these classifications are numerous, and in some cases, date back hundreds of years (Mueller-Dumbois and Ellenberg 1974). Small-scale or standlevel multiple resource management has used potential vegetation/site classifications for several decades (Daubenmire and Daubenmire 1968, Layser 1974, Pfister and Arno 1980, Ferguson et al. 1989). At broader scales, ecosystem management efforts are aided by classifications of forest vegetation that provide simple representations of vegetation composition and structural attributes that change over time and space (Ohver 1992, Swanson and Franklin 1992, McComb et al. 1993, Oliver et al. 1994, Turner et al. 1995). However, over broad areas in the Inland Northwest, rugged mountainous topography, contrasting geologic substrates, and a highly variable maritime influence from the Pacific coast combine