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Natural Communities
Natural
communities are assemblages of species that occur together in space
and time. These groups of plants and animals are found in recurring
patterns that can be classified and described by their dominant physical
and biological features: Red Maple swamp and Pitch Pine/Scrub Oak communities
are two examples. Natural communities are not discrete units with neat
boundaries; there is overlap among and between communities in their
composition, structure, and physical characteristics. Large animals
often make use of multiple communities.
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Natural communities may be restricted or widespread in their distribution across the state. Conservation priority should be given to natural communities with limited distribution across ecoregions within the state, those with restricted global distribution, and Massachusetts best examples of more common types (considered to be "Exemplary Natural Communities").
The Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program actively inventories and tracks the distribution and status of uncommon and exemplary natural communities called NHESP Priority natural communities across the state. In 2000, NHESP produced a classification of natural communities, which we use to better understand, map, and track them. Since then, several new types of natural communities have been described and in 2011 are posted with the original classification types, some of which have been modified in the process.
In April 2006 the Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences and the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program held a symposium on the natural communities of Massachusetts and surrounding states. Some of the presentations are available through Manomet's conservation mapper website. The NHESP presentation, entitled "Classifying Massachusetts Natural Communities: Where We Are Today, and Where We Might Go" presented background information on the Classification of the Natural Communities of Massachusetts, including assumptions made about classifying natural communities for conservation purposes.

