The Delaware Estuary Program has released a new “Guide to the Natural Communities of the Delaware Estuary” to make habitat restoration easier by standardizing references to native plant communities.

For more than 50 years, the nation’s scientists have been working on a standardized language to describe native plant communities, or groups of plant life found in similar environments.

The Delaware Estuary now has such a guide thanks to the work of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, NatureServe and the Natural Heritage Programs in the States of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

The Guide and its companion, “Key to the Delaware Estuary Ecological Systems and Natural Communities,” will be used by conservation planners and practitioners to protect and restore vulnerable habitats in a manner that takes the guesswork out of restoration. An important way it will do this is by ensuring that a unified language is used by experts in all jurisdictions when referring to plant communities.

“By using a common language among professionals, it will be much easier for groups to assess landscapes, predict vegetation patterns and compare restoration methods,” said Danielle Kreeger, science director at the Partnership. “In short, it will improve the quality of restoration being performed and ultimately lead to more successful efforts.”

The new guide uses the National Vegetation Classification System, which became the official U.S. vegetation standard in 1997. It describes 35 ecological systems and 185 natural-community types known to occur within the tri-state watershed, as well as other ecological characteristics such as animal life, topography, and more. All in all, its completion represents more than two years of work by eight different authors.

“A great feature of the guide is that it ranks the estuary’s natural communities by conservation status, or rarity,” said Kathy Klein, executive director of the Partnership. “This allows the professionals doing restoration to prioritize their efforts like never before; it’s groundbreaking.”

The Delaware Estuary stretches from Trenton, N.J., to the mouth of the Delaware Bay and includes the tidal reaches of the Delaware River. In all, its watershed encompasses nearly 7,000 square miles within 22 counties and three states. Approximately 88 percent of this area is land, and this is the focus of these new restoration tools.

While subterranean or deepwater systems are not included, submerged-aquatic vegetation is, as well as upland and wetland natural communities. Of the plant life within these environments, 23 percent are estimated to be at-risk globally and 32 percent are considered at-risk on the state level.

These new publications are now available for download on the Delaware Estuary Partnership’s website or contact Danielle Kreeger at 800-445-4935, extension 104.

6/16/2006