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Searching for ecological communities & systems

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Search for a single ecological community by Name, Location, Status only or a combination of these three. Additional search options (Search by Group and Refine Results) are available on the Name search tab.

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 United 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.

Beginning an ecological community/ecological system search

  1. From the NatureServe Explorer home page, click Search for Ecological Communities & Systems.
  2. From here, click Name, Location, or Status. (You can search by one or any combination of these.)

Searching by name

  1. In the Ecological Communities & Systems tab, click Name.
  2. Click Systems, Associations, Alliances or All.
  3. Type the scientific or common name for an ecological community or system.
  4. Click
    • Scientific for only scientific names
    • Common for only common names
    • Either for scientific OR common name
  5. Or, you can search by groups.
  6. Click Search Now to retrieve all the records that match the criteria you added.
  7. View the results.

Tips for name searches:

  • Use a singular name, never plural. NatureServe Explorer searches by a scientific or common name, which is always singular.
  • Use wildcards ( * ) with partial names.
  • Use AND/OR for mutliple word searches.
  • Use ignore punctuation to broaden your search.

Searching by location

Searching for USFS ecoregion locations is only available for Associations and Alliances, while searching MRLC map zone locations is only available for Ecological Systems.

  1. In the Ecological Communities & Systems tab, click Location.
  2. Click U.S. states, Canadian provinces, USFS ecoregions, and MRLC map zones where you want to find ecological communities or systems. For more information about these geographic units, see Distribution Data Sources.
  3. Click Search Now to retrieve all the records that match the criteria you added.
  4. View the results.

Searching by status

Searching by status is only available for Associations.

  1. In the Ecological Communities & Systems tab, click Status.
  2. Click all statuses that you want.
  3. Click Search Now to retrieve all the records that match the criteria you added.
  4. View the results.

Note: If you choose more than one status, you will need to choose AND/OR.

See also:

Setting user preferences
Understanding the results
Viewing and changing search criteria
Searching for ecological communities & systems by group
Example of an ecological community & systems search
Combining species and ecological community & systems searches
Using NatureServe Explorer

  

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