218 



Tcneslrial Ecosystems — Our Liviiii; Ri'saidvcs 



For further information: 



B.D. Keeland 



National Biological Service 



Southern Science Center 



700 Cajundome Blvd. 



Lafayette, LA 70306 



References 



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Rare 



Terrestrial 



Ecological 



Communities 



of the United 



States 



by 

 Dennis H. Grossman 



Kathleen Lemon Goodin 

 The Nature Conservancy 



Federal agencies and conservation organiza- 

 tions have shifted their focus from manag- 

 ing individual species to managing entire 

 ecosystems to protect biological diversity and 

 conserve natural resources. Although ecologi- 

 cal communities provide a more appropriate 

 level of biological organization for character- 

 izing ecosystems than individual species, the 

 lack of a standard ecological community clas- 

 sification has impeded progress for ecosystem 

 protection and management. 



The Nature Conservancy and the 

 Association of Natural Heritage Programs and 

 Conservation Data Centers (Natural Heritage 

 Network) have developed a framework for the 

 classification of ecological communities. The 

 first product from this effort is a preliminary 



list of rare terrestrial communities across the 

 conterminous United States. This list was 

 completed for the U.S, Fish and Wildlife 

 Service (Grossman et al. 1994). This article 

 provides a summary of the information from 

 the Grossman et al, report, including a review 

 of the status of information concerning rare 

 communities of the United States, an analysis 

 of regional patterns of rarity, and a discussion 

 of the application of this information toward 

 protection efforts. The use of ecological com- 

 munities as a coarse conservation unit pro- 

 motes conservation of the underlying ecologi- 

 cal processes and biotic interactions that sus- 

 tain the ecosystems across the landscape and 

 ensures protection of biological diversity and 

 rare species. 



