NatureServe Coastal/Marine Systems of North America: Framework for an Ecological Classification Standard: Version II

http://www.natureserve.org/publications/coastalMarineDraft3.pdf

Coastal and marine planners and managers are faced with a complex environment in which to make difficult decisions about habitat conservation and resource management. Given this complexity and recognizing the vastness of the marine environment for which the United States has jurisdiction, there is an urgent and increasing need for a national habitat classification approach that can be used to develop strategies for resource management and conservation. To meet this need the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NatureServe developed the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS), a classification standard that is relevant to all U.S. coastal and marine environments and that can be applied on local, regional and continental scales.

NatureServe Element Occurremnce Spatial Data Standard

http://www.natureserve.org/prodServices/eodraft/all.pdf

An Element Occurrence (EO) is an area of land and/or water in which a species or natural community is, or was, present. An EO should have practical conservation value for the Element
as evidenced by potential continued (or historical) presence and/or regular recurrence at a given location. For species1 Elements, the EO often corresponds with the local population, but when appropriate may be a portion of a population (e.g., long distance dispersers) or a group of nearby populations (e.g., metapopulation). For community Elements, the EO may represent a stand or patch of a natural community, or a cluster of stands or patches of a natural community. Because they are defined on the basis of biological information, EOs may cross jurisdictional boundaries.
An Element Occurrence record2 is a data management tool that has both spatial and tabular components including a mappable feature and its supporting database. EOs are typically represented by bounded, mapped areas of land and/or water. EO records are most commonly created for current or historically known occurrences of natural communities or native species of conservation interest. They may also be created, in some cases, for extirpated occurrences.