Original
habitat evaluation models provided scores that rated habitat quality for fish
or wildlife species, or rarely, groups of species. In recent years, interest
of users has broadened to a perspective of evaluating a biotic community, with
its components of fish and wildlife species (Schroeder 1996a). An
excellent introduction to community habitat modeling is found in an HSI model
for a northeastern palustrine forested wetland. 
A
wildlife community model was constructed for the Snake River, WY 
.
The document ""Wildlife
community habitat evaluation using a modified species-area relationship"
(Schroeder 1996a) was written to provide guidelines on using species-area relationships
to develop habitat models for groups of species, or communities. 
An Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) for songbird communities was developed in Pennsylvania in association with the Environmental Protection Agency EMAP program. The IBI model can be downloaded from this site: http://www.wetlands.cas.psu.edu/Research/birdibi.pdf.
In
addition to food, cover, and other needs of fish and wildlife, a plant community
serves other functions (e.g., soil stabilization) and may be a unique or specialized
assemblage of species and processes. Therefore, a plant community may merit
its own evaluation. The St. Louis District selected the bald cypress/water tupelo
wetland class as the subject for a model to evaluate the potential effects of
a project on an established community. The concern for the cypress was to maintain
existing stands and to allow reproduction (O'Neil, Webb, and Middleton, in preparation).
That model is in draft form and found here 
.
When published, it will be accessed from the Web button on the Information Manager
page of EMRIS.
This draft contains a spreadsheet as an appendix that allows the user to calculate model scores. The template is stand-alone, but provides the ability to simulate change in model variables and see how the outcome changes. Acrobat Reader 4.0 is necessary to access this template.
It is anticipated that the next edition of EMRIS will have additional community models for consideration. For example, a model was constructed for design and evaluation of wetland restoration in Toledo, Ohio (O’Neil and Webb, in preparation.) This model used one component of the Floristic Quality Assessment Index from Andreas and Lichvar (1995), the Species Coefficient, as a variable. Other variables related to hydrology, water quality, and human relationships to the site. The model was constructed to provide a mechanism to help design wetland restoration, evaluate its success, and monitor results over time. The purpose of the restoration was to enhance an urban wetland and improve its potential for increased biological diversity and human benefits.