The natural-heritage network
The Nature Conservancy helped establish early state natural-heritage programs in 1974 and developed a network with public and private partners to record species and ecosystems of conservation concern.
The Association for Biodiversity Information was established in 1994. Around 2000 the Conservancy transferred associated staff, databases and scientific-standard responsibilities to the organization subsequently called NatureServe.
Connecting local records
Member programs document species and ecological-community distributions, site conditions and observations. Local programs maintain detailed records, while the central organization develops information covering entire ranges.
Shared names, procedures and standards enable comparison without removing local custodianship of the underlying information.
References: [1]
From occurrences to conservation priorities
NatureServe methods connect mapped occurrences, status assessments at different geographical scales and information on conservation sites.
Methods developed with Robert Jenkins combine attention to broad ecological types and particular rare species. Planning can therefore extend beyond conspicuous places or a few familiar animals.
Checking and updating information
Natural-heritage methodology includes quality checks and explicit uncertainty. Historical occurrences require scrutiny before being treated as evidence of unchanged present populations.
Surveys, data exchange and information products supply traceable biodiversity evidence for land management, allowing decisions to be reconsidered as records improve.