ERDC Manual
The book entitled “A Design Manual: Engineering With Nature Using Native Plant Communities” has been published. This design manual is important because it promotes our native plant communities, which in turn supports native fauna. The National Classification System data (NRCS) and Nature Serve database (2013) has defined more than 800 ecosystem units in the United States and adjacent Canada. Of the 16,100 native flowering plant species in the United States, 5,474 are at risk, making them by far the largest group of organisms at risk (The Nature Conservancy, 2000). Impacts to native plant communities such as the loss of habitat, fragmentation, invasive plant species, the loss of pollinators, pollution, disease and changes to the climate will continue to occur, further stressing healthy plant populations and increasing the risks of loss of species.
