The
NatureServe conservation status system, maintained and presented by
NatureServe in cooperation with the Natural Heritage Network, was developed in the
United States in the 1980s by
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as a means for ranking or categorizing the relative imperilment of
species of
plants,
animals, or other
organisms, as well as
natural ecological communities, on the global, national and/or
subnational levels. These designations are also referred to as NatureServe ranks, NatureServe statuses, or Natural Heritage ranks. While The Nature Conservancy is no longer substantially involved in the maintenance of these ranks, the name TNC ranks is still sometimes encountered for them.