National Digital Elevation Program Guidelines

http://www.ndep.gov/NDEP_Elevation_Guidelines_Ver1_10May2004.pdf

The purpose of this document is to provide the member agencies of the National Digital Elevation Program (NDEP), as well as nonmember agencies, with guidelines and recommendations for acquiring digital elevation data in any of its various forms. Individual agencies may choose from flexible options to establish standards for their organizations. The following reasons are commonly cited for promoting and adhering to a common set of elevation guidelines or standards whenever possible and practical.

NOAA Guidelines for Establishing GPS-Derived Ellipsoid Heights

http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/PUBS_LIB/NGS-58.html

The following guidelines were developed by the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) for performing Global Positioning System (GPS) surveys that are intended to achieve ellipsoid height network accuracies of 5 cm at the 95 percent confidence level, as well as ellipsoid height local accuracies of 2 cm and 5 cm, also at the 95 percent confidence level.

NatureServe Terrestrial Vegetation Communities of the United States

http://www.natureserve.org/library/vol1.pdf

An authoritative standardized classification of the terrestrial ecological communities of the United States, naming and describing more than 4,000 community types.

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 Ecological Integrity Assessment and Performance Measures for Wetland Mitigation

http://www.natureserve.org/publications/eia_wetland_032707.pdf

The Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies have developed a National Wetlands Mitigation Plan that includes the need for assessing the effectiveness of biological and functional indicators that will help establish performance standards for wetland mitigation. This report outlines our approach to establish performance standards for wetlands mitigation using an
adapted version of NatureServe’s methodology for conducting ecological integrity assessments.

NatureServe Ecological Systems of the United States

http://www.natureserve.org/library/usEcologicalsystems.pdf

Conservation of the Earth's diversity of life requires a sound understanding of the distribution and condition of the components of that diversity. Efforts to understand our natural world are directed at a variety of biological and ecological scales—from genes and species, to natural communities, local ecosystems, and landscapes. While scientists have made considerable progress classifying fine-grained ecological communities on the one hand, and coarse-grained ecoregions on the other, land managers have identified a critical need for practical, mid-scale ecological units to inform conservation and resource management decisions. This report introduces and outlines the conceptual basis for such a mid-scale classification unit-—ecological systems.

NatureServe Invasive Species Protocol

http://www.natureserve.org/library/invasiveSpeciesAssessmentProtocol.pdf

NatureServe, in cooperation with The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. National Park Service, developed this Invasive Species Assessment Protocol as a tool for assessing, categorizing, and listing non-native invasive vascular plants according to their impact on native species and natural biodiversity in a large geographical area such as a nation, state, province, or ecological region.

NatureServe Network's Benchmark Data Content Standards

http://www.natureserve.org/prodServices/heritagemethodology.jsp

The defining characteristic of the NatureServe network is the use of natural heritage methodology. By specifying standard procedures for gathering, organizing, and managing information on biodiversity, natural heritage methodology unites the efforts of hundreds of individuals and dozens of institutions on two continents working to advance the knowledge needed to effectively conserve biodiversity. Over the past quarter-century, natural heritage methodology has evolved to keep pace with the growth in scientific knowledge about the natural world and advances in information technologies. Nevertheless, the underlying continuity of the methodology over time has permitted the network to accumulate knowledge and make available vast amounts of scientifically authoritative data. Natural heritage methodology provides a rigorous set of procedures for identifying, inventorying, and mapping species and ecosystems of conservation concern; for gathering related information on conservation sites and managed areas; and for setting conservation priorities.

NatureServe Biotics 4 Data Model

http://www.natureserve.org/prodServices/biotics/HDMS-DataModel.jsp

NatureServe's biodiversity data model, the focus of refinement and evolution over more than 25 years, reflects a set of inventory and data management standards and protocols referred to as natural heritage methodology. Adhered to by each of the network members, this model and the associated standards and protocols are encapsulated in NatureServe's Biotics 4 software. Biotics 4 represents the eighth generation of data management software developed by NatureServe for use by network participants.

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.