Ecology Homepage

Community Ecology

Welcome to the home page of the ecology group at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation's (DCR) Natural Heritage Program (VANHP). Here you will find information about the wealth of natural communities in the Commonwealth, the latest version of the Virginia state community classification, and PDF downloads of special presentations and documents.

Our group is part of the Inventory section at VANHP. We are vegetation ecologists, but work closely with zoologists, geologists, soil scientists, hydrologists, and other specialists to understand the complex interactions between plants, animals, and the physical environment. Our primary mission is to inventory the full range of natural communities in Virginia, develop a formal classification of ecological communities, and identify outstanding examples of all community types as priorities for protection. We hope this ongoing work will assist land owners and resource managers in understanding the landscape ecology of Virginia and conserving important ecosystems. We also work closely with our colleagues at NatureServe to ensure that the information we generate is incorporated into the National Vegetation Classification and other larger-scale projects.

In addition to conducting general inventories across Virginia, we have a long and successful track record of providing contract services to federal and local agencies and private organizations. Click here for more information about these projects and our services.

Gary P. Fleming

THE NATURAL COMMUNITIES OF VIRGINIA, 2nd Approximation
The Second Approximation (Version 2.2) of The Natural Communities of Virginia: Classification of Ecological Community Groups is now on line. This is a refined, expanded, and fully illustrated update to the First Approximation that was released in 2001. Significant updates to the web version of the Second Approximation have recently been implemented, including hyperlinks to the National Vegetation Classification and to photographs of many plant and animal species mentioned in the text. Click here to begin perusing this greatly improved resource.

PDF AND OTHER DOWNLOADS
A hard-copy version of The Natural Communities of Virginia: Classification of Ecological Community Groups, Second Approximation (Version 2.1) will be available as a PDF download in the near future. Please check back often. These documents require the free Adobe reader.

Overview of the Physiography and Vegetation of Virginia
This section of The Natural Communities of Virginia, Second Approximation is also available to view or download as a stand-alone PDF document.

Vegetation Ecology of the Potomac Gorge
View and/or download a PDF version of a Microsoft Powerpoint presentation entitled Vegetation Ecology of the Potomac Gorge. There are two downloads, the actual powerpoint and a second text document with the narrative text which can be printed and used while viewing the PDF of the powerpoint. This presentation details the natural communities and unusual environmental gradients in the Potomac River valley west of Washington, D.C. The current version was presented at the October 14, 2006 annual meeting of the Maryland Native Plant Society in Shady Grove, Maryland. Previous versions were presented at the Oct 5, 2004 meeting of the Botanical Society of Washington; at the Virginia Native Plant Society's (VNPS) 2004 Biodiversity Workshop at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond; and at the April 8, 2004 meeting of the Potowmack Chapter of VNPS. PLEASE NOTE : The presentation is quite large and will take about 1.5 hours to download on a typical 56k phoneline connection. Cable modems will be much faster.

Vegetation Ecology of the Potomac Gorge : Powerpoint.pdf (34mb) - narrative script.pdf
Standard VANHP releve plot data collection field form (PDF file).

Standard list of the Virginia vascular flora developed by VANHP botanists and ecologists
This is an Excel file containing three worksheets: 1) list of indigenous and naturalized species; 2) list of hybrids documented in Virginia; and 3) list of species reported uncertainly for Virginia. Scientific names and synonyms, common names, global and state conservation ranks, native or introduced status, and sources of accepted names are all provided. Provided as an Excel, rather than PDF, file to allow the user to sort by different criteria.

Ecological Communities of the Northern Virginia Blue Ridge
View and/or download a PDF version of a Microsoft Powerpoint presentation entitled Ecological Communities of the Northern Virginia Blue Ridge . There are two downloads, the actual powerpoint and a second text document with the narrative text which can be printed and used while viewing the PDF of the powerpoint. This informative show has stunning images of the communities and component flora of the Northern Blue Ridge province of Virginia, and was presented Oct 4, 2003 at a multi-state Native Plant Society conference entitled " The Blue Ridge Mountains and Potomac Valley in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia: Native Plants and the Geology of the Blue Ridge Province " in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. PLEASE NOTE : The presentation is quite large and will take about 1.5 hours to download on a typical 56k phoneline connection. Cable modems will be much faster.

Ecological Communities of the Northern Virginia Blue Ridge: Powerpoint.pdf (18mb) - narrative script.pdf

CONTACT US
We welcome and appreciate comments or feedback on our work, as well as information or questions concerning Virginia's natural communities. Please direct inquiries to any member of the VANHP Ecology Staff:

Gary Fleming Vegetation Ecologist (804) 786-9122 Gary.Fleming@dcr.virginia.gov	Karen Patterson Vegetation Ecologist (804) 786-5990 Karen.Patterson@dcr.virginia.gov
Kristin Taverna Field Ecologist (804)692-0252 Kristin.Taverna@dcr.virginia.gov	Kirsten Hazler GIS Ecologist (804) 371-6203 Kirsten.Hazler@dcr.virginia.gov
Phil Coulling Vegetation Ecologist (804) 371-6203 Philip.Coulling@dcr.virginia.gov	Barbara Gregory Ecology Assistant / GIS Technician 804-225-3018 Barbara.Gregory@dcr.virginia.gov