Full ecoregional plan - Conservation Gateway

AcknowledgementsEdited Version and Plan TemplateConservation Science Support (CSS), formerly known as Eastern Conservation Science(ECS) and located at the Eastern Resource Office (ERO, formerly the Eastern RegionalOffice) in Boston, is responsible for this product. Most of the ecoregional plan documentsrefer to ECS.CSS provides leadership for science-based ecoregional and landscape-scale planning anddesign; geospatial and statistical terrestrial and aquatic analysis; data dissemination andtraining; and other specialized professional services to the Northeast and CaribbeanDivision of The Nature Conservancy. At the time of publication, CSS staff included:Mark Anderson, Director of Conservation Science; Shyama Khanna, Information andProject Coordinator; Greg Kehm, Spatial Ecologist and Lab Manager; Arlene Olivero,Aquatic Ecologist; Charles Ferree, Landscape Ecologist; Dan Morse, GIS Analyst; andSusan Bernstein, Communications Consultant.MethodologiesThe standard methodologies sections created for this and all Northeast ecoregionalassessment reports were adapted from material originally written by team leaders andother scientists and analysts who served on ecoregional planning teams in the Northeastand Mid-Atlantic regions. The sections have been reviewed by several planners andscientists within the Conservancy. Team leaders included Mark Anderson, HenryBarbour, Andrew Beers, Steve Buttrick, Sara Davison, Jarel Hilton, Doug Samson,Elizabeth Thompson, Jim Thorne, and Robert Zaremba. Arlene Olivero was the primaryauthor of freshwater aquatic methods. Mark Anderson substantially wrote or reworked allother methodologies sections. Susan Bernstein edited and compiled all sections.LNE/NP Planning Team and Working GroupsWe assembled a Core Team made up of the Conservancy operating units responsible forthis ecoregional plan to guide the process and report interim results to each office. Inaddition, we established working groups to cover different elements of biodiversity.These teams developed minimum ecoregional standards and selected examples of matrixforests, aquatics, natural communities, animals, and plants. The teams used guidancefrom outside experts to develop information used in selecting sites for matrix forests andaquatics. The ECS GIS lab took on spatial assessment of the entire ecoregion for bothmatrix forests and aquatics. The state Natural Heritage Programs associated with the planprovided data for natural communities, animals, and plants.See Appendix 7 for all original members of the Lower New England — NorthernPiedmont Planning Team.REVISED 5/2003ACK-1