Canadian Province Distribution (Ecological Communities & Systems): The Canadian distribution of an Ecological Community or System at the province level. A "?" next to a province means that the Ecological Community or System is suspected, but not confirmed, to occur there. Note: Absence of a province cannot be interpreted as a definitive statement that the Ecological Community or System does not occur there. For more information see Distribution Sources.

Carnivore: Restricted to animals that eat mammals, birds, reptiles, or amphibians.

Cave Obligate: A species or infraspecific taxon that is ecologically restricted to caves and subterranean groundwater habitats. These subsurface-limited species are sometimes further classified ecologically as troglobites (terrestrial) and stygobites (freshwater). In contrast, trogloxenes (e.g. cave-inhabiting bats) use caves for only part of their life cycle, and troglophiles can complete their entire life cycle in caves but may also live in non-cave habitats with similar conditions (e.g., leaf litter, talus, slopes).

Chaparral: A type of fire maintained evergreen shrub community. Does not include desert shrublands. For more information see Classification of Ecological Communities.

Characteristic
If checked, the designated component species (in the designated stratum/lifeform) is almost always found in the ecological community and is used in the delimitation of that community.

Circadian: Active anytime during a 24-hour period.

Class: Species: Taxonomic Class. Communities: For more information see Classification of Ecological Communities.

Classification Code: The code assigned to the Level 5 (Formation) and the Alliance of the Association. Classification of Ecological Communities.

Classification Comments: Comments regarding classification criteria or remaining issues associated with classification of the Ecological Community or Ecological System.

Classification Confidence: The level of confidence in the classification of the Association or Ecological System. This confidence is based on the quality and type of data used in the analysis, as well as the extent to which the entire (or potential) range of the Element was considered. Values include: 1 = Strong, 2 = Moderate, and 3 = Weak. Classification of Ecological Communities.

Cliff: Vertical or nearly vertical rock outcrops.

Colonial Breeder: Indicates that the breeding season dispersion of the taxa is greatly aggregated compared to the nonbreeding season dispersion within the specified geographic level (i.e., range-wide for global, within-nation for national, or within-state or province for subnational). Note that this does not include taxa that live in colonies throughout the year.

Comments on Official Statuses: Any comments necessary to explain the designated or interpreted status of the taxon under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (USESA). Differences in taxonomic treatment or nomenclature between the regulating agency and NatureServe are discussed. In addition, further documentation and clarification regarding the status of the element may be included. For example, if a species is delisted, the information and/or reasoning behind the decision is described in this field. For more information see U.S. ESA.

Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) Status: Abbreviations used to indicate the at-risk category assigned by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). For more information see COSEWIC.

Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) Status Date: The date the at-risk category was assigned, revised, or reaffirmed by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). For more information see COSEWIC.

Common Name (Association): A colloquial name for the Association.

Common Name (Species): The common name of an element adopted for use by NatureServe. Note: Common names have not been tracked for all plants. Names for other groups may be incomplete. Many elements have several common names, often in different languages. Spellings of common names follow no standard conventions and are not systematically edited.

Concept Author: Name(s) of the author(s) or contributor(s) to the Element concept.

Concept Reference
Citation for the reference that describes the circumscription of the Element.

Since the circumscription of many taxa or communities may be described in the same reference, in order to uniquely identify the Element, the scientific name assigned to the Element in the concept reference is identified in the Name Used in Concept Reference field. The concept reference and the name used in that concept reference are fixed; thus, they provide a constant identifier for the Element, although the name in use for the Element and other associated data may change.

The purpose of using both the concept reference and the scientific name used in that reference as the unique and constant identifier of the Element is so that where different parties use different names for the same Element, the concept reference will allow clear determination that the entities are the same. Likewise, if different parties use the same name for different Elements, the concept references should quickly identify the entities as different.

Concept Reference Code
NatureServe’s unique identifier for the Concept Reference.

Conifer Forest: Gymnosperms that comprise over two-thirds of the canopy. For more information see Classification of Ecological Communities.

Conifer Woodland: Gymnosperms that comprise over two-thirds of the canopy. For more information see Classification of Ecological Communities.

Conservation Status Rank: For more information see NatureServe Conservation Status.

Constant
If checked, the designated component species (in the designated stratum/lifeform) occurs in at least 60% of stands of the ecological community.

Constancy
The constancy class which best represents the percentage of stands of the ecological community which contain the designated component species in the designated stratum/lifeform, i.e., how consistently do stands of the ecological community contain the species in the designated stratum/lifeform.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Protection Status: Value assigned to the species from the Protective Appendix according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangerment of Species (CITES). Values include: 1 = Appendix I (species that are most endangered, threatened with extinction, and for which commercial international trade is generally prohibited), 2 = Appendix II (species that are not necessarily threatened with extinction at this time, but that may become threatened unless commercial international trade is controlled), 3 = Appendix III (species included by request of a country that regulates its trade, and for which cooperation of other countries is needed to prevent exploitation).

COSEWIC: Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. For more information see COSEWIC.

County Name: The name of the US county in which the species is located.

Creek: Smaller streams, sometimes characterized by heavy influence (shading, organic detritus) from adjacent terrestrial habitats; variable flow, sometimes intermittent.

Crepuscular: Characteristically active during twilight hours (i.e., at dawn and dusk).

Cropland/Hedgerow: Cultivated fields and field borders.