A Balanced Information System

Georgia's natural heritage program, the Nongame Conservation Section, focuses first on identifying "elements" of special concern in Georgia. These "elements" are plant species, animal species, or natural community types which are especially rare or threatened. Elements are given global and state ranks of rarity based on biological and geographical factors. Highest priority is given to the rarest elements.

Information from scientific literature, museum and herbarium collections, knowledgeable individuals, and scientific research organizations is utilized extensively to document occurrences of particular elements within the state. Field surveys are then conducted to verify these occurrences. The biological inventory thus represents a continuous, ongoing process whose product, a detailed atlas of Georgia''s natural diversity, is constantly updated and revised.