This layer represents the coastal components of the priority natural vegetation communities in MA. This layer is one of eight that depict the distribution of natural community systems identified by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) as most critical to the conservation of the Commonwealth's biological diversity (Barbour et al., 1998).These eight layers are: coastal, coastal plain pond, vernal pool, acidic peatland, riverine, maritime sandplain, pine barrens, calcareous. For descriptions of these community systems, refer to Barbour, Simmons, Swain and Woolsey, "Our Irreplaceable Heritage: Protecting Biodiversity in Massachusetts" (1998). SPECIFICS FOR THE COASTAL PLAIN POND COMMUNITIES:Coastal Plain Pond Systems consist of certain kettlehole ponds and the pondshores developed around their fluctuating water levels. Most of this data in the southeast came from a shapefile created by the Manomet Center for Conservation Science, which was then revised based on information from the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program, The Nature Conservancy, Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachusetts, and the MassGIS 1:5,000 Orthophoto base map.