Publications

2022   |   ABQ BioPark, NatureServe, and Mt. Cuba Center

The Conservation Status of Trillium in North America

Among North American wildflowers, few are as beloved and culturally relevant as Trilliums. A new report led by the ABQ BioPark, NatureServe, and Mt. Cuba Center, analyzed risk factors to these plants and found that 32% of all North American Trillium species or varieties are threatened with extinction.

2022   |   Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Bridging the Research-Implementation Gap in IUCN Red List Assessments

This paper highlights a major research–implementation gap in the application of the wide variety of assessment methods, which could be bridged by providing users with easy access to the most relevant tools, hands-on training, and strengthening communication.

2022   |   Land

Addressing Climate Change Vulnerability in the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems—Results Demonstrated for a Cross-Section of Major Vegetation-Based Ecosystem Types in the United States

In this analysis, a new framework for assessing climate change vulnerability was applied to a cross-section of 33 upland ecosystem types in the United States. All 33 types were listed as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, demonstrating the use of this input to the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems.

2022   |   Vegetation Classification and Survey

Integration of Vegetation Classification with Land Cover Mapping: Lessons from Regional Mapping Efforts in the Americas

This paper illustrates two examples that have bridged the gap between traditional land cover mapping and modern vegetation classification.

2022   |   Ecological Applications

Increasing Taxonomic Diversity and Spatial Resolution Clarifies Opportunities for Protecting US Imperiled Species

By building habitat suitability models for a taxonomically diverse group of 2216 imperiled plants and animals, we revealed comprehensive and detailed protection opportunities in the conterminous United States. The results provide fine-scale, taxonomically diverse inputs for local and regional priority-setting and show that although protection efforts are still widely needed on private lands, notable gains can be achieved by increasing protection status on selected federal lands.

2022   |   Conservation Science and Practice

Documenting At-risk Status of Terrestrial Ecosystems in Temperate and Tropical North America

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) is an emerging global standard for ecosystem risk assessment that integrates data and knowledge to document the relative risk status of ecosystem types. This analysis documents the status of all terrestrial ecosystems across temperate and tropical North America and the Caribbean.

2021   |   Forests

Rapid Ecological Integrity Assessment Metrics to Restore Wildlife Habitat and Biodiversity for Shortleaf Pine–Oak Ecosystems

This paper provides practical, rapid ecological integrity metrics to guide Shortleaf Pine-Oak woodland ecosystems management for the restoration of habitat for focal wildlife.

2021   |   NatureServe

A Species Habitat Model Standard for the NatureServe Network

This standard places NatureServe and the Network in a better position to place the most current, complete, and consistent Biodiversity Location Data into the hands of researchers and decision-makers.

2021   |   NatureServe

NatureServe's Strategic Plan 2022-2026

In our 2022-2026 Strategic Plan, NatureServe commits to playing an even greater role in protecting biodiversity by providing the best available science, data, and technology to support biodiversity conservation. Learn more about the values that are core to NatureServe and how we are investing in our future.

2021   |   Natural Areas Journal

Using Citizen Science Observations to Develop Managed Area Watch Lists

This paper presents an automated process to use data from iNaturalist, a popular citizen science platform, and a United States national list of nonnative plant species to compile a provisional watch list of the 100 most frequently reported nonnative species within a 160 km buffer around a managed area. It demonstrates the application of the process using 36 US National Park Service units with relatively small operating budgets.