Documenting Rare or Special Ecological Communities

Updated December 15, 2006

To document the occurrence of an ecological community, a minimum amount of information on the community composition and its location is required.

  • As exact a location of the ecological community as possible, ideally a GPS reading supported by a polygon marked on an aerial photograph and a location on a map.
  • Date and name of surveyor(s)
  • Aspect, slope, moisture regime (e.g. xeric, mesic etc.) and drainage
  • The Rare Ecological Community Site Description Form ( 30kb) is designed to facilitate capture of the appropriate site data for ecological communities.
  • Whenever possible a full species list should be supplied including cover estimates.
  • For species that are unknown or difficult to identify in the field, specimens should be collected and identification to the species level confirmed.
  • The Rare Ecological Community Vegetation Description Form ( 33kb) is designed for listing of species and cover for ecological communities.
  • The system used for cover estimates should be noted (e.g. percent cover, Braun-Blanquet cover abundance scale, Daubenmire cover scale or other)
  • The type and size of plot used should be noted
  • An estimate of the size of the occurrence (or a polygon mapped on an aerial photograph)
  • A written description of the community is often helpful, including a discussion on appearance, disturbance, invasive species and any other management concerns.
Additional information is, of course, always welcomed. If photos are provided, please indicate if you are willing to allow their use for documents and reports, such as the photo gallery posted on the ACIMS website.

The data forms mentioned above have been modified from those developed by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development and could be used as the basis for documenting an occurrence of a special ecological community.

The pdf forms can be printed, filled out and faxed or mailed in to:

    Lorna Allen
    Alberta Conservation Information Management System
    2nd Floor Oxbridge Place
    9820 – 106 St.
    Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2J6
    Fax: 780 427-5980

Adobe® Acrobat® PDF files can be viewed with Adobe® Acrobat® Reader software - a free download from www.adobe.com