Reference ecosystem
A reference ecosystem, also known as an ecological reference, is a "community of organisms able to act as a model or benchmark for restoration." Reference ecosystems usually include remnant [natural area]s that have not been degraded by human activities such as agriculture, logging, development, Fire_ecology#Examples of [fire in different ecosystems|fire] suppression, or non-native species invasion. Reference ecosystems are ideally complete with natural flora, fauna, abiotic elements, ecological functions, processes, and successional states. Multiple reference ecosystems may be pieced together to form the model upon which an ecological restoration project may be based.