7863

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7863
• Author: Nature Conservancy, T.
• Title: Candidate Species Reports from the Natural Heritage Central Database.
• USFW Year: 1996.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

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ESA Report Field Names and Definitions (Element - Animal or Plant)

· As described by the Heritage Program, an Element is a unit of natural biological or
ecological diversity.

b IDENTIFIERS
ELCODE

GNAME
GCOMNAME

GRANK

GENDESC

GPESTWEEO

EOSPECS

Element record key from the ELEMENT TRACKING file in the
BCD System.

Global Scientific Name. (GNAME is translated from the ET file).

Common Name. (GCOMNAME is translated from the ET file).

Global Rank. Global Element rank assigned or confirmed by
Headquarters which charaderizes the relative rarity or
endangerment of the Element world-wide. (GRANK is translated
from the ET file).

Enter a general, nontechnical but accurate description of the
taxon. (GENDESC is translated from the PCA, VCA, or ICA
files).

Give legal status for taxa that are considered noxious weeds.
Include states and/or nations and designation. If numerous, give
summary only. (GPESTWEEO is translated from the PCAG
file).

Element Occurrence Specifications. Text description of the
Element occurrence specifications. For species, describe briefly
how the Element typically occurs (e.g. colonially, in clones, in
pairs).

- What is the individual entity mapped as an Element
occurrence?
- Is there more than one kind of Element occurrence (e.g. both
nests and wintering roosts for the bald eagle)?
- 00 these different types of Element occurrences differ in
priority for conservation attention?
- How are Element occurrences distributed within an Element's
range?
- Is there a clumped or patchy distribution that could create
confusion about whether one or several Element occurrences
are present at a locality? If so, by what convention is that
confusion consistently resolved?

For plants, indicate whether the species is perennial, biennial, or
annual.

For communities: 1) define the minimum standards for size and
condition (degree of disturbance), a stand not meeting the
standards is not considered an Element occurrence, 2) describe
how the boundaries are defined, 3) give mapping conventions
for treating loose aggregations or discontinuous occurrences
such as a series of seep communities (under what
circumstances are nearby stands combined as a single Element