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<br /> <br />3 <br />continually updated databases. CNHP is part of an international network of <br />conservation data centers that use the Biological and Conservation Databases <br />(developed by The Nature Conservancy). [n addition, CNHP has effective <br />relationships with the Colorado Natural Areas Program, Colorado Department of <br />Natural Resources, the Colorado Division of Wildlife, and the numerous federal <br />agencies. Concentrating on site-specific data for each element of natural diversity, <br />the accurate status of each element becomes known. The data presented here <br />illustrate a site that is important to the conservation of Colorado's, and indeed the <br />nation's natural biological diversity. By using the element ranks and the quality of <br />e•sch occurrence, priorities can be established for the protection of the most sensitive <br />or imperilled sites. It is by having an updated locational database and prioriry- <br />setting system that CNHP can provide its most effective, proactive land-planning <br />tools. <br />Information is gathered by CNHP on species, natural communities, and <br />ecosystems. Each of these significant natural features (species and community <br />t}~pes) is an element of natural diversity, or simply an element. Each element is <br />assigned a rank that indicates its relative rarity on a five-point scale (1 =extremely <br />rare/impertlled; 5 =abundant/secure; Table 1). <br />The primary criterion for ranking elements is the number of occurrences, i.e. <br />the number of known distinct localities or populations. Also of great importance is <br />the number of individuals at each locality or, for highly mobile organisms, the total <br />number of individuals. Other considerations include the condition of the <br />occurrences, the number of protected occurrences, population trends, and threats. <br />F:owever, the emphasis remains on the number of occurrences, such that ranks are <br />an index of known biological rarity. These ranks are assigned both in terms of the <br />element's rarity within Colorado (its State or S-rank) and the element's rarity over <br />its entire range (its Global or G-rank). Taken together, these two ranks give an <br />utstant picture of the rarity of the element. Although most species protected under <br />state or federal endangered species laws are extremely rare, not all raze species are <br />listed as Endangered or Threatened and Natural Heritage rarity ranks should not be <br />uuerpreted as legal designations. <br />