VT Significant Natural Communities (Public)

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department's Natural Heritage Inventory (NHI) maintains a database of rare, threatened and endangered species and natural (plant) communities in Vermont. The Department is a member of the network of Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centres network that collaborates with NatureServe, which is the umbrella organization. The Element Occurrence (EO) records that form the core of the Natural Heritage Inventory database include information on the location, status, characteristics, numbers, condition, and distribution of elements of biological diversity using established Natural Heritage Methodology developed by NatureServe and The Nature Conservancy. 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 species Elements, the EO often corresponds with the local population, but when appropriate may be a portion of a population 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 record 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 or, at small scales, the centroid point of this area. EO records are most commonly created for current or historically known occurrences of natural communities or native species of conservation interest.佛蒙特州鱼类与野生动物部门（Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department）的自然遗产名录（Natural Heritage Inventory, NHI）维护着佛蒙特州内珍稀、受威胁及濒危物种与自然（植物）群落的数据库。该部门是与作为伞形组织的NatureServe开展合作的自然遗产项目与保护数据中心网络的成员。作为该自然遗产名录数据库核心的元素出现记录（Element Occurrence, EO），依托NatureServe与大自然保护协会（The Nature Conservancy）制定的标准自然遗产方法学，收录生物多样性元素的位置、现状、特征、种群数量、存续状况与分布范围等信息。元素出现记录指某一物种或自然群落现存或曾存续的一片陆地及/或水域区域，该记录需为对应元素具备实际保护价值，具体体现为该点位存在持续（或历史）存续的潜力，以及/或在特定点位定期重现。针对物种类元素，元素出现记录通常对应当地种群；在适宜场景下，也可指代单个种群的一部分，或是邻近的多个种群集群（如集合种群（metapopulation））。针对群落类元素，元素出现记录可代表一处自然群落的林分或斑块，或是多个自然群落林分与斑块的集群。由于元素出现记录基于生物学信息定义，其可能跨越行政管辖边界。元素出现记录是兼具空间与表格数据属性的数据管理工具，包含可制图空间要素及其配套支撑数据库。元素出现记录通常以带有边界界定的陆地及/或水域制图区域表示，在小尺度场景下则可使用该区域的质心点进行标注。绝大多数元素出现记录均为针对具有保护价值的现存或历史已知自然群落及本土物种的出现情况所编制。