Skip to main content

Land use and management activities, if not compatible with natural ecological processes, threaten the health of ecosystems. NatureServe uses ecological classifications to describe and map the location of ecosystem types. We then document trends in ecosystem extent and integrity in order to assess the risk that we may lose the many functions and services provided by a given ecosystem type.

A cloud forest in Costa Rica. Photo by Patrick Comer | NatureServe.
A cloud forest in Costa Rica. Photo by Patrick Comer | NatureServe.