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Searching
for ecological communities & systems by group & refining results
Keywords
Ecological System. A group of ecological communities that co-occur on the landscape with similar environmental settings and dynamic processes, as defined in Ecological Systems of the Unites States. For example, West gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest.
Ecological Community. Area defined by its by dominant vegetation using the International Classification of Ecological Communities. An Association or Alliance.
Association.
Finest level of ecological community classification derived from the dominant/diagnostic species from any stratum of the ecological community.For example,
Abies lasiocarpa/Vaccinium scoparium Forest.
Alliance.
Second finest level of ecological community classification derived from the uppermost
or diagnostic stratum of the ecological community. For example,
Pseudotsuga menziesii Forest Alliance.
Searching for
ecological communities & systems by group
Use groups to
search for an ecological community or ecological system if you do not know its full
name, or if you want to view only communities or systems in certain groups (broader classification levels), such as woodland
or shrubland. Start your search for an ecological community or system at the
highest group or jump several subgroups. The highest groups are defined by the dominant lifeform (example, tree, shrub, grass).
Ecological communities (associations and alliances) are nested under 5 levels of groups which are the upper levels of the International Classification hierarchy. The highest level groups ("Classes") are:
- Forest
- Woodland
- Shrubland
- Dwarf-shrubland
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- Herbaceous
Vegetation
- Nonvascular
Vegetation
- Sparse
Vegetation
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Ecological systems are nested under 2 levels of groups. These groups are not a formal classification hierarchy for ecological systems, rather they are a useful way of organizing them. The highest level groups ("Land Cover Classes") are:
- Forest and Woodland
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Shrubland
- Steppe/Savanna
- Herbaceous
- Woody Wetland
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- Herbaceous Wetland
- Mixed Upland and Wetland
- Barren
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Tips for searching
by group
-
Red
indicates the active group or subgroup where your search
will begin.
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When
you use a group search, you can only search for records
in one active group and its subgroups. For example, you
cannot search for communities in the subgroups for evergreen
woodland and deciduous woodland at the same time. If you
want to retrieve both groups in one search, you will need
to go to Woodland, which includes both subgroups.
in front
of a name means that subgroups exist below. 
in front of a name means that you have reached the last
subgroup. Click 
to collapse, or close the active subgroup.
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Browsing groups
- From the
NatureServe Explorer home page, click Search for
Ecological Communities & Systems.
- In the Name
tab,
- Type
a wildcard ( * ) under Search by
Name if you want to search only by group.
- Type
a name, if you want to search for a name within the group
and subgroups.
- Scroll to
And/Or Search by Group.
- Click in front of Ecological
Communities or Ecological Systems to see the groups.
- Continue selecting subgroups (and expanding subgroups) until you reach the group
you want to retrieve. To choose multiple groups in the same level, use the checkboxes.
- Click Search
now to retrieve all the records that match the criteria.
- View the
results.
Searching by group name
- From the
NatureServe Explorer home page, click Search for
Ecological Communities & Systems.
- In the Name
tab,
- Type
a wildcard ( * ) under Search by
Name if you want to use only the groups.
- Type
a name, if you want to search on a name within a group.
- Scroll to
And/Or Search by Group.
- Type the
name of the group you want.
- Click Find the Group Below
to go to the group where you want to begin.
- If you want to search lower-level groups, see instructions above for browsing.
- Click Search
Now to retrieve all the records that match the criteria.
- View the
results.
Refine Results (Searching for ecological communities & systems by wetland and LANDFIRE map legends)
Several additional search options are available under Refine Results at the bottom of the Name tab. These refinements to the criteria allow you to limit your results to only wetland or riparian ecological communities or systems, or to search only for ecological systems that are part of the Inter-agency LANDFIRE map legends.
Limit Ecological Communities Results
- To limit your association and alliance results to only wetland or riparian ecological communities, click on Only Wetlands
Limit Ecological Systems Results By Wetlands
- To limit your ecological systems results to only wetland or riparian ecological systems, click on Only Wetlands
- Or, click on a wetland subcategory to limit your results to only isolated (strictly or partially) wetland ecological systems, as defined in Biodiversity Values of Geographically Isolated Wetlands.
Limit Ecological Systems Results By Landfire Legend
The Inter-agency Landfire project is mapping Ecological Systems across the U.S., but some systems are not part of this project.
- To limit your results to only systems that are in the Landfire map legend, click on Only Landfire Legend
- To limit your results to only systems that are in the Landfire map legend for the eastern U.S., click on Only East Landfire Legend
- To limit your results to only systems that are in the Landfire map legend for the western U.S., click on Only West Landfire Legend
Refine Ecological Systems Results
To include the aggregated Ecological Systems that were developed for the Landfire project, you must select the Include Ecological System Aggregates (Used By Landfire) choice. These are nonstandard ecological systems so by default (without checking this box) they are not included in search results.
Setting
user preferences
Understanding
the results
Viewing and changing search criteria
Searching for ecological communities & systems
Example of an ecological community
search
Combining species and ecological community
searches
Using NatureServe Explorer
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