Vegetation classification systems form a base for conservation management and the ecological exploration of the patterns and drivers of species’ distributions. A standardised system crossing administrative and geographical boundaries is widely recognised as most useful for broad-scale management. The Queensland Government, recognising this, uses the Regional Ecosystem (RE) classification system and accompanying mapping as a state-wide standardised vegetation classification system. This system informs legislation and policy at local, state and national levels, underpinning decisions that have wide-ranging implications for biodiversity and people’s livelihoods. It therefore needs to be robust from a scientific and legal perspective. The current approach in the RE system for identifying vegetation communities relies on expert-based class definition procedures. This is in contrast to best practice, which is based on quantitative procedures. This paper discusses the RE system in a global context and outlines the updated approach that incorporates quantitative class definition procedures, synthesises the research behind the updated approach and discusses its implications and implementation.

植被分类系统为保护管理以及对物种分布的模式和驱动因素进行生态探索奠定了基础。跨行政和地域界限的标准化系统被广泛认为对大规模管理最有用。昆士兰州政府认识到这一点，将区域生态系统（RE）分类系统和随附的地图用作全州范围内的标准化植被分类系统。该系统为地方，州和国家各级的立法和政策提供信息，支持对生物多样性和人民生计具有广泛影响的决定。因此，从科学和法律的角度来看，它必须具有鲁棒性。可再生能源系统中用于识别植被群落的当前方法依赖于基于专家的类别定义程序。这与基于定量程序的最佳实践形成对比。本文在全球范围内讨论了可再生能源系统，并概述了包含定量类定义程序的更新方法，综合了更新方法背后的研究并讨论了其含义和实施。