What are Recovery Units?
A5: Recovery units are subunits of the listed species that are geographically or otherwise identifiable and essential to the recovery of the species. Recovery units are individually necessary to conserve genetic robustness, demographic robustness, important life history stages, or some other feature necessary for long-term sustainability of the species. Establishing recovery units is a useful management tool for species occurring across wide ranges with multiple populations, varying ecological pressures, or different threats in different parts of their range. Recovery units are primarily delineated on a biological basis; however, boundaries may be modified to reflect differing management regimes. Recovery units are not necessarily self-sustaining viable units on their own, but instead need to be collectively recovered to ensure recovery of the entire listed entity.
