Natural community resources
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Download Acrobat Natural community identification workshop materials
A Guide to the Natural Communities of Massachusetts
Part I: Terrestrial communities
Part II: Palustrine communities
Part III: Estuarine communities
Workshop presentation
Part I
Part II
Part III
Massachusetts natural community links
Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program Natural Communities -- contains a draft classification of the natural communities of Massachusetts, along with a field form, and accompanying instructionsRegional natural community links
Maine -- The Maine Natural Areas Program (MNAP) has identified 98 natural community types that collectively cover the state's landscape. A list of community types and a key to identify these types are available here.New Hampshire -- The New Hampshire Natural Heritage Bureau has produced two reports on that state's natural communities. The first is a classification of New Hampshire's natural communities; the second considers groups of communities as they co-occur in the landscape.
Natural Communities of New Hampshire
Natural Community Systems of New Hampshire
New York -- The New York Natural Heritage Program offers two publications on ecological communities: one that includes the original classification system published in 1990, and an expanded version published in 2002.
Ecological Communities of New York State (Reschke 1990)
DRAFT -- Ecological Communities of New York State (Edinger et al. 2002)
Rhode Island -- The Rhode Island Natural History Survey and the Rhode Island Field Office of The Nature Conservancy are currently finalizing a classificiation system for that state.
Natural Communities of Rhode Island (REVIEW DRAFT Sept. 2005)
Vermont -- The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and the Vermont Field Office of The Nature Conservancy has made the book Wetland, Woodland, Wildland: A Guide to the Natural Communities of Vermont available online
Wetland, Woodland, Wildland: A Guide to the Natural Communities of Vermont
Other natural community links
The Nature Conservancy provides an overview of natural communities, why classification is important, and the classification system developed by the Conservancy in Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Ecological Classification for Conservation.Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Ecological Classification for Conservation
