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.
In support of natural resource agencies in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, we report on a series of component analyses and an updated Landscape Conservation Design for temperate grassland conservation.
| Hurricane disturbances, tree diversity, and succession in North Carolina Piedmont forests, USA
Windthrow plays a critical role in maintainingspecies diversity in temperate forests. Do large-scale strongwind events (i.e., tropical cyclones, including hurricanes,typhoons and severe cyclonic storms) increase tree diver-sity in severely damaged forest areas?
| Species diversity as a surrogate for conservation of phylogenetic and functional diversity in terrestrial vertebrates across the Americas
2017 has been a year of change. As our scientists often say, “change is the new normal.” With each day that passes, the forces of global change—the warming climate, expanding human footprint, and loss of forests, grasslands, shores, and waters—threaten biodiversity and all life that depends on it.
The purpose of the EcoVeg classification approach is to describe the diversity of terrestrial ecosystems across the globe and inform decisions about conservation and resource management.
To achieve the goal of sustaining healthy diverse, and resilient coastal and marine habitats and living marine species in the Gulf of Mexico, resource managers need a way to take the pulse of this vast ecosystem, to evaluate its health and its ability to provide needed ecosystem services.
In support of natural resource agencies in Canada, the USA, and Mexico, we report on a series of component analyses and an updated Landscape Conservation Design for temperate grassland conservation. We targeted twelve major grassland ecosystem types that occur across the Great Plains and Chihuahuan Desert regions. Component analyses included: a) documenting long-term trends in extent by grassland type, b) identifying species of concern associated with the major grassland types, c) documenting current protected areas including each grassland type, d) assessing landscape intactness and connectivity among grassland areas, and, e) identifying Grassland Potential Conservation Areas to advance grassland conservation.
