INTRODUCTION 



This study provides a classification of plant communities 

 (primarily grasslands and shrublands) throughout northeastern 

 Montana (Figure 1) . The study emphasized locating and describing 

 rare or previously undescribed communities and common communities 

 in good to excellent ecological condition. Such a classification 

 will be useful in identifying sensitive communities and natural 

 areas where management activities may need to be adjusted to 

 maintain habitat values. Additionally, the classification pro- 

 vides a reference system for baseline monitoring of environmental 

 impacts and vegetation recovery and provides an ecological basis 

 for categorizing environmental variation. 



This study represents a step towards developing a comprehen- 

 sive classification of Montana plant communities that will pro- 

 vide land managers and scientists a state-wide perspective of 

 community variation (nation-wide when correlated with other state 

 classifications) . Such a perspective is invaluable towards 

 making sound management prescriptions and predictions, designing 

 and interpreting experiments, and identifying areas of critical 

 importance for conservation. 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 



All financial and personnel support for this study were 

 provided by the Montana Natural Heritage Program and the Montana 

 State Library. Many resource managers, particularly USDI Bureau 

 of Land Management, USDA Soil Conservation Service, and USDI 

 Bureau of Indian Affairs personnel, provided assistance in 

 locating field sites. 



The authors would particularly like to thank Peter Achuff, 

 Lisa Schassberger, David Center, Margaret Beer, and Cedron Jones 

 for their reviews and feedback during the development of this 

 classification. Robert Ament provided conscientious assistance 

 during field work. Appreciation is also extended to Dorinda 

 Monson and Brooke Wineteer who helped prepare and clean the 

 immense amount of data generated by this study. 



PREVIOUS RESEARCH 



Grasslands and shrublands cover over 75 percent of the 

 Montana landscape yet are the most poorly described vegetation 

 types of the state. Figure 1 highlights both the vast expanse of 

 Montana grasslands and the sparseness of available detailed com- 

 munity characterizations (particularly in northeastern Montana) . 

 To date, studies characterizing grassland and shrubland communi- 

 ties of Montana have been of limited geographical and ecological 

 scope. The most extensive existing studies include Mueggler and 



