Classification of Vegetation Communities of New Jersey : Second Iteration

This classification of vegetation communities was developed as part of the Natural Heritage Program?s mission to inventory New Jersey?s biological diversity and identify habitats critical for conservation. New Jersey?s biological diversity consists of thousands of species of organisms ranging from vertebrate animals to vascular plants to invertebrates to soil and water microorganisms. These species live together in natural communities, interacting with each other under similar environmental conditions. The biological inventory of the Natural Heritage Program and it?s partner the Endangered and Nongame Species Program only has the capacity to focus on a limited portion of the species groups?vertebrate animals, vascular plants, select groups of invertebrates and nonvascular plants. Many more species groups are not surveyed. In addition to the species surveys, natural communities are classified and included in the inventory for two reasons: natural communities can act as a coarse filter to capture habitat for unsurveyed species groups; natural communities themselves represent a higher order of biological diversity above the species level.Funds for producing this New Jersey version of the classification were provided by the U.S. Biological Service Mid-Atlantic Gap Analysis Project and the New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection, Division of Science Research and Technology. Report copyright 2001 New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, Office of Natural Lands Management, Division of Parks and Forestry, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.Purpose: Part of the Natural Heritage Program?s mission to inventory New Jersey?s biological diversity and identify habitats critical for conservation